Leaders | What is the plan?

China is loosening its covid restrictions, at great risk

The government has not done enough to prepare

BEIJING, CHINA - DECEMBER 03: Workers remove a COVID-19 nucleic acid testing booth from a site in the Central Business District on December 3, 2022 in Beijing, China. As part of a recent relaxing of COVID-19 control measures, the Beijing government announced that people would no longer need proof of a 48 hour negative COVID-19 test to ride public transit as of December 5.(Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Does China still have covid-19 under control? In keeping with its flawed recent handling of the virus, the answer is surely that it does not. The official tally of cases is falling, but that is probably because people are being tested less often. Not long ago the aim was to suppress every infection chain. Today social media suggest that an alarming and rapidly growing number of Chinese people know someone who has caught the disease.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “What is the plan?”

Searching for returns

From the December 10th 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Leaders

This illustration symbolises the technological competition between China and the United States. It features elements of both nations' flags, with an upward green arrow on China's side and a downward red arrow on the U.S. side. The background includes  AI s

The real meaning of the DeepSeek drama

The Chinese model-maker has panicked investors. But it is good for the users of AI

DRCONGO-UNREST

Rwanda does a Putin in Congo

To understand the seizure of Goma, consider a parallel with Ukraine


Keir Starmer surrounded by the Eu stars

Sir Keir Starmer should aim higher in his reset with the EU

And he needs to be clearer about what Britain wants


To make electricity cheaper and greener, connect the world’s grids

Less than 3% of the world’s power is internationally traded—a huge wasted opportunity

Chinese AI is catching up, posing a dilemma for Donald Trump

The success of DeepSeek and other Chinese modelmakers threatens America’s lead 

America has an imperial presidency

And in Donald Trump, an imperialist president for the first time in over a century