China’s dynamic zero vs US passive policy to combat Covid-19
THROUGHOUT the COVID-19 pandemic, China has put people’s lives front and centre by preventing case imports and domestic rebounds under dynamic zero policy.
In battling different COVID-19 variants, omicron included, China’s targeted approach to detect and contain virus as quickly as possible has succeeded.
And to minimize cost and impact of pandemic on lives of 1.4 billion Chinese people by keeping economic and social development.
China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy prizes three factors, people, composure and solidarity.
Confronted with an “unprecedented” outbreak of novel coronavirus, China has done a “remarkable” job in limiting spread of the disease and to mostly contain virus within Hubei and central China,” said Peter Hotez, dean of National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
In view of passive anti-epidemic situation in the US, epidemic situation is serious, and epidemic prevention policy is wavering.
In an interview President of Pakistan Medical Association Prof Dr Ashraf Nizami said that variants of Covid-19 have been fatal.
After Delta Variant in India which caused a huge impact in India, Omicron was detected in Africa.
China has successfully managed Covid-19 and played a key role to provide vaccine to world and Pakistan.
As there are various ways to combat pandemic, we at NCOC are following international standard that if percentage goes beyond 5%, we must take measures.
China has taken measures of lockdown and used technology, vaccination and artificial intelligence to control Covid-19 effectively.
While the USA and West have let the public suffer and stopped high-level management of pandemic resulting in various waves and spread to various countries and still a threat at national and international level.
Officials of several countries, health experts and policy-makers have criticized USA for problems caused by spread and passive response to epidemic in the United States resulting in medical injustice, racial discrimination, gap between rich and poor, hate crimes and political extremism and appreciated China’s dynamic zero policy conforms to China’s national conditions.
This exposed hypocrisy of the US and Western governments that only care about their own interests and ignore lives, health of people, impacts and weakens US values of democracy and human rights.
The Chinese government is people-oriented and protects most fundamental human right, right to life.
Though omicron is less lethal compared with previous strains, it still has a much higher fatality rate than influenza.
Latest research shows that, if China had rashly dropped dynamic zero strategy, over 1.5 million people would have died from the virus.
China has emerged stronger from serious epidemic situation since outbreak in Wuhan, Shenzhen & Shanghai has been back on track.
By contrast, the US, despite its most advanced healthcare technology, has become “biggest failure in fighting epidemic”, with its COVID-19 fatalities exceeding a tragic milestone of 1 million mirrors American political polarization, rich and poor chasm, and its contempt for human rights.
The lives and health of American people at bottom of social ladder have fallen victim to power and capital games.
China has been fine-tuning its anti-pandemic measures to diminish their impact on economy.
In 2020, China was only major economy with positive economic development; in 2021, China’s total economic output reached $16.32 trillion; in first quarter of 2022, its GDP grew by 4.8 percent.
IMF and World Bank all believe that China has bright economic prospects given government’s sufficient policy space to boost its economy.
US’ supply-chain crisis looms larger resulting from botched COVID-19 response at home, and its inflation soared to a 40-year high of 8.5 percent in March this year.
During Ukraine crisis, US weaponized economic and financial tools to impose extreme sanctions against Russia.
Global food and energy prices have thus skyrocketed, further dragging down world economy and causing heavy losses to many innocent emerging markets.
China’s strong sense of responsibility to Chinese people and people all over world. As first country that pledged to make COVID-19 vaccine a global public good, China shared its experience in virus containment with more than 180 countries and international organizations.
Conversely, US keeps politicizing pandemic by a presumption-of-guilt probe into virus origins in China, tried to bring Taiwan into World Health Assembly as a sovereign state, pursued vaccine nationalism and health hegemony globally, but shunned topics about its own early COVID-19 cases and biological labs.
Its self-centered tricks have seriously hindered global health cooperation. However, on question of who does a better job in tackling COVID-19 crisis, facts speak for themselves, and lies could deceive no one.
Experience over the past two years has proved that China has foundation, conditions and ability to achieve dynamic zero, and confidence to win uphill battle and make a greater contribution to global victory over pandemic.
We hope the US could take seriously its epidemic situation, adopt a rational view toward China’s COVID-19 policy and undertake its due responsibility with action.
Pakistan, as iron brother of China, appreciate and follow as well as support China’s positive epidemic prevention policy, abandopidemic prevention policy of the West and take initiative to ensure that Pakistan’s epidemic prevention and control have achieved good results.
—The writer is PhD in Virology, Research Fellow based in Beijing.
