China | Covid hits the capital

China claims Beijing is the true test of its pandemic policy

Never mind all that chaos in Shanghai

|BEIJING

IF CHINA’S PUBLIC-HEALTH policies were decided by the people of Shanghai, the country would abandon its “zero-covid” strategy, which uses mass testing and strict lockdowns to crush the virus. The city’s 25m residents, among whom are some of China’s richest and most influential people, have complained loudly about the grim weeks of lockdown they have endured. But Beijing is where China’s covid strategy is devised. For now, the mood is rather different in the capital.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Covid hits the capital”

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