China will stick to a zero-covid policy, for now

NEARLY TWO years into the covid-19 pandemic, China’s propaganda machine is locked in a futile argument with the outside world. The row is about whether this giant country is paying too high a price for its “zero-covid” policy. China’s attempts to eliminate the virus, rather than merely manage it, are certainly costly. They have largely closed China’s borders for 19 months. Dozens of city districts, towns and counties are enduring lockdowns as the highly contagious Delta variant and an early cold snap cause a flare-up of infections. There are several hundred cases of the disease nationwide. Many of them are local transmissions rather than imports from abroad, underscoring Delta’s perils. Controls include roadblocks manned by police in protective suits, closed schools, cancelled trains and testing of millions of residents.