Opinion | China to open or not to open borders in time for Winter Olympics? That's the question
By Augustus K. Yeung
Introduction
Fighting COVID-19 under worldwide normal conditions is already a challenge. Why did Japan decide to go ahead with the Summer Olympics at the time when the virus appeared to be getting out of control in the country? All the people in the world were holding their breath, waiting to see how the anti-virus war would be won. Tokyo did it--as the Olympic Games got off the ground without inflicting human casualty.
Pertinently, China sent a team to Tokyo to closely monitor the situation; meanwhile, to study how the Japanese had managed the challenge, which turned out to be a success, increasing China's odds in the Winter Olympics, although the decisive moment has yet to be finalized, pending a total assessment.
China Cannot Isolate Itself from the World
China must reopen its border in time for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, a leading Chinese has said. "China cannot isolate itself from the world when it hosts the Winter Olympics." Zeng Guang, a former chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said.
It would be "impossible" to ask foreign athletes to undergo hotel quarantine for 14 days, followed by a week of health observation, Zeng—who is also part of expert consultation groups for the games in China—recently told news portal NetEase Technology.
"The Winter Olympics is the next important juncture, especially when [coronavirus] prevention in winter will be more difficult. But our country must manage it well to prevent the virus from being transmitted [among athletes or locals]."
Will the Winter Weather Affect Transmission?
Weather does not affect Covid 19 transmission significantly, according to the World Health Organization. But during winter people tend to stay indoors. In enclosed or crowded places with poor ventilation, which can aid virus transmission.
Zhang said China had sent a team of more than 30 to the Tokyo Olympics to observe Covid-19 control efforts, and the Beijing organizing committee should reach an agreement on the pandemic control measures with the International Olympic Committee.
(NOTE: In Japan, the success of the games depended on strictly controlling infections.)
In Japan, where the Tokyo Paralympics open today, International Paralympic head Andrew Parsons said the success of the games depended on whether organizers would be able to control infections.
Japan Ensured the Safety of Athletes, Taking Stringent Measures
"We don't feel the presence of the Paralympics here will have a direct impact on raising…or even decreasing the number of cases," Parsons told Kyodo News on Saturday.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the cumulative Covid-19 positivity rate among Olympic Games participants from July 1 to August 8, when the event ended, was 0.02 percent.
Athletes were tested at least twice before they arrived in Japan. They were then tested at the airport upon arrival and every day during their stay at the Olympic Village, the IOC said.
(NOTE: The Beijing Winter Olympics is the next important juncture…our country must manage it well, Zeng Guang, Epidemiologist cautioned.)
Japan's Way of Managing Athletes' Safety Measures
"If an athlete arrived in Tokyo on July 18 and left on August 10, that person was tested at least 26 times," it said.
IOC members and staff arriving in Japan were almost all vaccinated, while 85 percent of residents at the Olympic Village had received their jabs, it added.
The Covid-19 measures in Japan were developed by the Tokyo organizing committee, IOC and IPC, in collaboration with the Japanese government and the Tokyo metropolitan government. ("China urged to open border in time for Winter Olympics." South China Morning Post, Tuesday, August 24, 2021.)
(NOTE: Meanwhile, the word's loss of life to Covid-19 has just reached 5 million, according to the latest report.)
China's Zero-Covid Strategy is Less Costly…
Riding on the crest of a winning wave, China's top respiratory disease specialist, Zhong Nanshan, has authoritatively defended the country's zero-Covid strategy against scrutiny from critical health analysts. He said it was still "less costly than living with the disease and reintroducing restrictions each time outbreak occurred, reported CGTN which had interviewed him on Monday (November 1, 2021).
China had no option but to aim for zero infections because the coronavirus was replicating quickly and the global death rate of about 2 percent is unacceptable, Zhong Nanshan reasoned.
"Some countries have decided to open up entirely despite still having a few infections," Zhong asserted, complaining "That led to a large number of infections in the past two months. And they decided to reimpose restrictions. This flip-flopping is actually more costly; The psychological impact on citizens and society is greater."
China has maintained one of the toughest approaches to containing the coronavirus--even as many countries, such as Britain, Singapore and South Korea, have decided to ease restrictions on travel and social gatherings--while encouraging vaccination in an attempt to return to normality.
"Therefore, I believe, for now, that the zero-transmission strategy is not too costly. But is in fact a relatively less costly method." Last month, Zhong said strict measures against the coronavirus were needed because China's vaccination rate had not passed 80 percent.
Praises from the Press:
China's Economic Success in Combating the Pandemic
The New York Times has repeatedly praised China's success in combating Covid-19 and its Delta variant while showing its disappointment over America's wish-wash ways of controlling the deadly disease.
Specifically, People Daily yesterday published an article praising President Xi Jinping, "Putting the people's lives and health first. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core, our country has overcome the impact of the pandemic, coordinated anti-epidemic measures, while socioeconomic development had achieved significant results," the article said, adding that China was the only major economy to report growth in 2020.
State media have, in contrast, also highlighted regularly the death toll in the United States, which is the highest in the world in absolute terms, according to data from John Hopkins University.
Globally, more than 5 million people have died because of Covid-19 since the virus was first detected in 2019. China's total deaths stood at 4849, compared with 747,033 in the U.S., the university's data showed.
Conclusion
For the first time in the world, even Chinese children are now being vaccinated--as the nation pushes ahead with its aggressive zero-Covid policy. It is apparent that China is taking no chances. Beijing is fully prepared and in absolute control.
Strident in demands, the nation is confident that it can handle the threat posed by COVID-19 and its Delta variant. China is therefore fully prepared to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, taking the stringent steps it has taken, including the on-site studying the situation in the Olympic Village in Tokyo, Japan.
I seem to be hearing a battle cry from Chinese patriots in Beijing, "If creepy-crawly Japan can do it, so can we, a rising nation!" Personally, I believe China--being encouraged by its unprecedented success in various fields and pushed by its unapparelled invincible party leadership--is evidentially all set to take the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 challenge, "China to open its borders in time for the Winter Olympics." Isn't the answer loud and clear?!
The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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