Covid whiplash in China
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 January 2023
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It came as a complete surprise. Last month, the Chinese government dropped most of its “zero covid” restrictions. Today on Post Reports, we find out what’s behind the shift and a massive covid outbreak that has since swept the country.
Since the start of the pandemic, China has kept in place rigid policies in hopes of eliminating the spread of covid-19. That all changed last month, amid outbreaks of the highly transmissible omicron variant and in the wake of unprecedented protests. In a sudden shift, the government announced no more lockdowns, no more mandatory testing and, as of this week, no more cross-border travel restrictions.
“I don't think people saw that coming,” said Lily Kuo, The Washington Post’s China Bureau Chief.
But the situation is shrouded in mystery and concerns over a lack of information about the virus. While Chinese authorities report that cases are under control, behind the scenes footage, interviews with hospital and funeral staff, and satellite and forensic analysis from Kuo and her colleagues reveal a much different story.
“We know that the health-care system is overwhelmed,” Kuo said. “We don’t know exactly how many deaths. And so it is hard to tell exactly how much of a crisis this is and how bad it will get.”
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Tracked, detained, vilified: How China throttled anti-covid protests.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | These days most of Shanghai is still almost eerily quiet. |
| 0:09.6 | Lisa Mobius has lived in Shanghai for more than two decades. |
| 0:13.3 | And lately she's been reporting on COVID there for the post. |
| 0:16.5 | Last month China's government finally started to drop its rigid COVID restrictions. |
| 0:22.2 | But despite that, everything around Lisa has felt quiet. |
| 0:26.2 | I live in the very busy shopping hub and there were very, very few people. |
| 0:31.0 | The streets were completely empty. |
| 0:32.5 | The only sound I hear from the busy road next to me is the ambulance. |
| 0:38.0 | You know, people have been just like hiding out at home mostly. |
| 0:41.8 | I know people who have not left their house for a month because they're afraid of getting the virus, |
| 0:46.4 | but the refuse to get vaccinated because they have more faith in folk medicine. |
| 0:59.8 | This was not what you might have expected when the Chinese government suddenly lifted lockdowns. |
| 1:04.8 | But Lisa says a lot of restaurant and bank staff have been out sick. |
| 1:08.8 | She says so many people in her life have gotten COVID all at once. |
| 1:13.3 | A few weeks ago Lisa went to find out what was really going on behind the scenes in an emergency room. |
| 1:19.1 | Drone Shop Hospital is my local hospital. |
| 1:22.1 | It also is one of the major hospitals in the city. |
| 1:26.6 | And as I walked up things still seemed pretty normal. |
| 1:29.4 | You know, ambulances pulling in and out. |
| 1:33.1 | The one thing that was weird that I noticed was a guy coming up and entering and carrying a |
| 1:38.1 | folding out camping chair, you know, the kind people used at music festivals and parks when they want to, |
| 1:44.1 | you know, spend a weekend, you know, enjoying the sunshine and Shanghai. |
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