Winter Olympics: What is China's Covid policy and does it work?
China: How is its zero-Covid strategy changing?
(about 2 months later)
Access to Olympic venues is carefully controlled
China's zero-Covid policy has been among the strictest approaches to tackling the pandemic anywhere in the world.
Beijing says it's taken all necessary coronavirus safety measures for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
But a recent surge in infections is forcing it to reconsider how it deals with the pandemic.
Positive cases have been reported at the Games, and there've been complaints from some athletes about how these have been handled.
How serious is the current wave?
So what safety measures are in place, and how successful has China's policy of "zero Covid" been?
The latest jump in daily cases, widely spread across the country, has been driven largely by the Omicron variant.
What are the isolation rules at the Games?
Tens of millions of people in China, including the entire north-eastern province of Jilin, and the tech-hub city Shenzhen in the south, have been ordered into lockdown.
Anyone testing positive after arrival is put into isolation and only allowed to compete after getting two consecutive negative tests taken 24 hours apart.
Shanghai, China's largest city, has become the latest city to join the list after battling the new wave for nearly a month.
Those who have symptoms will be taken to a designated hospital and those who are asymptomatic will stay in an isolation facility. They're not allowed to go outside, but can request training equipment for their room if it's available.
Makeshift hospitals and quarantine centres have been set up across the country.
Athletes competing in the Games are tested daily
Shanghai Covid: China announces largest city-wide lockdown
There's also been some confusion over testing, with one competitor, Polish athlete Natalia Maliszewska, claiming that conflicting results meant she was allowed to compete in one race and then sent straight back into isolation.
Omicron v Covid: How long can China hold on?
And some athletes are unhappy about the isolation facilities they've been sent to after testing positive.
However, compared with the United States and Europe, infection rates remain low.
What other measures are in place?
In the week prior to 24 March, there were just over 14,000 new cases in the whole of mainland China. In the UK over a similar period, there were over 610,000 new infections.
Foreign spectators are barred and tickets are not on sale to the general public.
How is China's policy changing?
Groups of local spectators are being "invited" to events and will have to observe strict Covid prevention measures "before, during and after watching the Games."
As more infections are detected across the country, China's strict zero-Covid strategy is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
High-speed trains will run within a closed transport system for the Olympics
However, most of its principal elements remain in place:
And people are advised not to travel into the capital, Beijing, from other parts of China.
Travel to and from China is strictly limited, and there are restrictions on internal movement
It is also keeping the media, athletes and observers in distinct bubbles, with the rules saying anyone entering these bubbles must be fully vaccinated or spend 21 days in quarantine.
Travellers from abroad with permission to enter China are screened and sent to government-designated hotels for a mandatory quarantine of at least two weeks, followed by a further period of monitoring
Overseas participants will enter a bubble upon arrival in China, and remain in it until they leave the country.
Regular community testing programmes are carried out and if infections are detected, residents can be evicted and sent to quarantine facilities (along with targeted area lockdowns)
Local support workers, including volunteers, cooks and drivers, will also be part of a sealed bubble. They'll have no physical contact with the outside world, even with their own families.
All non-essential businesses have been shut, apart from food shops and some other essential suppliers
Winter Olympics: Behind the bubble in Beijing
Schools are closed and public transport is suspended, with almost all vehicle movement banned
This system applies not just to housing, hospitals and locations meant to serve the Olympics, but also transport links. There are closed-loop airports and high-speed rail systems (most major venues are outside Beijing).
Millions of people are currently under lockdown in China
Local traffic authorities have even advised the public to "avoid contact" if they have a road accident with a vehicle carrying Olympic personnel.
As China's healthcare system is put under increasing strain, some regulations have been relaxed:
What did China do earlier in the pandemic?
People with mild symptoms no longer need to attend designated hospitals, but they still need to isolate at centralised facilities
Travel to and from China has been severely limited, and there have been restrictions on internal movement for some two years now.
Quarantine-period rules have been reduced
Any travellers from abroad who have permission to enter China are screened on arrival and sent to government-designated hotels for a mandatory quarantine of at least two weeks.
City-wide testing is no longer being carried out - replaced by local community testing
All international passengers must have temperature checks before disembarking
Self-testing kits are to be made available in stores across the country and online, but those who test positive will need to take PCR tests
In most cities, this is followed by a further seven days of hotel or home quarantine, and then a seven-day monitoring period when social mixing is prohibited and regular reporting to local health officials is required.
China has approved antigen (lateral-flow) self-test kits after cases hit a two-year high
China has stopped issuing and renewing passports for "non-urgent purposes" to its own citizens both at home and abroad, to further minimise international travel.
How successful has China's zero-Covid policy been?
There are also strict controls on moving between China's cities (and sometimes between individual neighbourhoods) with further mandatory periods of self-isolation for those permitted to travel.
China has had remarkable success containing the pandemic prior to the current outbreak.
China has also put some cities into lockdown when cases have been detected.
Since the end of 2019, it has reported just over 4,600 deaths (according to Our World in Data). In the United States, more than 970,000 have died and in the UK, a little over 160,000.
Residents of Xi'an gather to collect essentials after the city was locked down
That's around three deaths per million people in mainland China, compared with 2,922 in the US and 2,402 in the UK.
During these, people are only allowed to leave for "urgent matters", such as going to hospital. Surveillance by the police and local volunteers is also being stepped up, with harsh penalties for anyone breaking the rules.
Reported infections in China have also been very low throughout the pandemic.
Residents can be evicted from their homes at short notice and sent to quarantine facilities if infections are detected during a mass testing campaign. All non-essential businesses are shut, apart from food shops and some other essential suppliers.
Concerns have been expressed about the accuracy of the official data, but it seems clear that both infection and death rates have been low when compared with other countries.
Schools are closed and public transport is suspended, with almost all vehicle movement banned.
About 88% of the population is now fully vaccinated. Despite this, China is almost alone in adhering to strict zero-Covid policies.
How successful has 'zero Covid' been?
Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, relaxed their strict policies in the latter part of 2021 as vaccination rates improved.
On the face of it, China has had remarkable success containing the pandemic.
Cases did then surge in those three countries, largely as a result of the spread of the Delta and Omicron variants of coronavirus - but have remained relatively low in comparison with countries across Europe and in the United States.
Since the end of 2019, China has reported just over 4,600 deaths (according to Our World in Data). In the United States, more than 830,000 have died and in the UK, just over 150,000.
Per million people, that's around three deaths in China, compared with 2,500 in the US and 2,190 in the UK.
Reported infections in China have also been very low, rarely rising above 150 a day across the country throughout the pandemic.
Concerns have been expressed about the accuracy of the official data, but it seems clear that both infection and death rates have been low when compared with other countries. The National Health Commission in China says 85% of its population is now fully vaccinated.
Despite this, China is almost alone in adhering to a zero-Covid policy regardless of the cost to personal freedoms and to the economy.
Other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, modified their strict adherence to zero Covid in the latter part of 2021. The Delta variant was taking hold anyway and these countries had also managed to push up their vaccination rates.
Cases did then rise in those three countries, but the hope is that sufficient vaccination will keep serious illness and death to manageable levels.
