Thread by @WilliamYang120

"But pressure is mounting for a change to the zero-Covid strategy that has left #Shanghai at a standstill since March, kept hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens under lockdown nationwide and is now threatening to bring #Beijing to a halt." nytimes.com/2022/05/13/bus…

"Fearing any dissent during a politically important year for Mr. Xi, China’s censors have moved quickly to muffle calls for a change in course on Covid-19."

"The head of the World Health Organization, whose recommendations China once held up as a model, was silenced this week when he called on the country to rethink its strategy."

"Photographs and references to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the W.H.O., were promptly scrubbed from the Chinese internet after the statement."

"The foreign ministry responded by calling Mr. Tedros’s remarks 'irresponsible,' and accusing the W.H.O. of not having a 'proper understanding of the facts.'"

"China’s state-controlled media has also glossed over the draconian measures officials have deployed to deal with outbreaks. This week, as some authorities in Shanghai erected new fences around quarantine zones, ...

... boarded up more homes and asked residents not to leave their apartments, state media painted a picture of a city slowly returning to normal."

“The situation is pretty grim, and the study shows clearly the huge importance in vaccinating and boosting the elderly,” said Marco Ajelli, an infectious disease modeler at Indiana University’s School of Public Health, who contributed to the study.

"Less than half of people aged 70 or older in Shanghai have received two jabs, according to the study. Across China, the number is 72 percent, a figure that health experts say should be 95 percent or higher."

"In dozens of cities where there have been outbreaks or partial lockdowns in anticipation of rising cases, resources have been devoted to stamping out the virus rather than to vaccinations."

"Investors and business leaders worry that China’s rigid adherence to its zero-Covid policy could send the economy into free fall. “It is high time for the government to change its strategy,” said Fred Hu, a prominent Chinese investor.

By one estimate, nearly 400 million people in 45 cities have been under some form of lockdown in China in the past month, accounting for $7.2 trillion in annual gross domestic product.

Economists are concerned that the lockdowns will have a major impact on growth; one economist has warned that if lockdown measures remain in place for another month, China could enter into a recession.

Foreign investments have nearly dried up, and some projects have been on hold for more than two years because pandemic restrictions have made it essentially impossible for foreign executives to visit China.

Even as daily virus cases in Shanghai are steadily dropping, authorities have tightened measures in recent days following Mr. Xi’s call last week to double down.

Officials also began to force entire residential buildings into government isolation if just one resident tested positive.