Does China have the Covid-19 resurgence in Beijing under control?

A determined approach is needed in order to strike the balance between epidemiological and economic interests

The sudden appearance of over one-hundred new Covid-19 cases in Beijing over the past week has sparked fears that the virus is making a comeback, but the Chinese government has everything under control. Some neighbourhoods have reverted to their prior containment policies by restricting movement, there’s a lot more testing, schools have been temporarily closed, and over 1,000 flights have been suspended. This strong response shows that China is taking the latest outbreak very seriously, which reassures the rest of the world.

There are still some governments that are treating the disease as if it was no different from a common flu despite this approach being criticised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and most of the international community. If a country as populous and closely connected to the rest of the global economy as China were to apply such soft or even non-existent policies in thwarting this threat, then everyone else would be at risk of possibly catching this contagion.

By responding with the tenacity that it has, however, China is once again helping to save the rest of the world by doing its utmost to contain the latest outbreak. It’s clear by observing the government’s reaction to this latest development that it already had a plan to implement in the event of this scenario. This reveals that the authorities were prepared for what happened after having learned many useful lessons in the over half-year since the virus first appeared in Wuhan.

Nobody wanted to hear about the possibility of a second wave emerging, but honestly speaking, it’s comparatively better for it to happen in China than anywhere else since the authorities there are arguably the best prepared in the world for responding to it. Had this latest outbreak occurred in one of the states that isn’t taking this virus seriously, then the consequences could have been catastrophic, potentially reversing a lot of the progress that has been made in containing this viral threat.

In terms of the bigger picture, China is showing the rest of the world just how responsible of a global leader it’s become over the course of the past couple of decades. Instead of shirking its responsibility to contain Covid-19 within its borders like some forces in the United States have supported doing for political reasons, China is doing everything in its power to ensure that that this latest outbreak doesn’t spread abroad, all while being careful not to overreact in a way that might inadvertently inconvenience people after all that they’ve already been through this year.

The international community can therefore learn a lot from China’s response since the People’s Republic is paving the path for how everyone else should react in the event that a second outbreak emerges within their own countries sometime in the future as well. A calm, rational, strict, and determined approach is needed in order to strike the perfect balance between epidemiological and economic interests after having already defeated the first wave and thus begun the path to overall recovery.

Overreacting or not reacting at all isn’t the solution since both extremes could inflict unnecessary hardship on one’s own people and the rest of the international community at large. Furthermore, it could even be dangerous. Failing to take this threat seriously could needlessly result in the loss of innocent lives from the disease, the same as overreacting by implementing a harsh lockdown without any complementary socio-economic support to the population could put desperate people at risk of starvation and hurt their mental health.

There’s no universal way to contain Covid-19 since every outbreak is unique in some respects, but following the general guidelines that have driven China’s response can present the most optimal way forward for every country. It’s natural for people to feel scared by the news of this latest outbreak in Beijing, but that fear should hopefully abate after realising just how responsible China’s response to it has been. The world still has some ways to go before this threat is fully extinguished, but China’s playing a leading role in saving everyone else.