“Three years of Covid prevention measures were a complete waste and failure”, Mr. Chen says to the BBC, because the government eased controls too quickly, with no preparation, and so many have now caught the virus.
Now there is great worry for the elderly and at the same time, the young are self-infecting with the anticipation that if they can’t avoid catching Covid, at least they can control the timing of the inevitable contagion.
The final step in China’s swift reversal of its contentious zero-Covid policy comes today, Sunday, January 8. China will take the final step to completely reopen after 3 years of rigorous Covid preventative measures, as it reopens borders for international travel. With mass testing, stringent quarantines and sudden, sweeping lockdowns gone, families like Mr. Chen’s are fearful of what lies ahead.
But younger Chinese, all of whom did not wish to be named, feel differently – and some told the BBC they were voluntarily exposing themselves to infection.
A 27-year-old coder in Shanghai, who did not receive any of the Chinese vaccines, says he voluntarily exposed himself to the virus. “Because I don’t want to change my holiday plan,” he explains, “and I could make sure I recovered and won’t be infected again during the holiday if I intentionally control the time I get infected.” He admits he did not expect the muscle aches that came with the infection, but says the symptoms have been largely as expected.
Another Shanghai resident, a 26-year-old woman, tells the BBC she visited her friend who had tested positive “so I could get Covid as well”. But she says her recovery has been hard: “I thought it would be like getting a cold but it was much more painful.”
A 29-year-old who works for a state-run business based in Jiaxing, in the northern Zhejiang province, says she was thrilled when she heard the country’s borders were reopening. She is excited to travel to other parts of China again to see concerts.
“Life was ridiculous when I had to ask my manager’s permission to travel. I just want life to get back to normal,” she says. “But I do worry about the elderly.”
When her grandfather fell sick with Covid, he refused to go to the hospital, even when his condition took a turn for the worse, she says. And reports of overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums have only added to the worry.
At least in the big cities, people have been returning to malls, restaurants and parks, and even lining up for visas and tourist permits. The state-run Global Times newspaper declared “normal times are back”.
But not for everyone. Mrs. Liu’s husband never got vaccinated because he suffers from advanced diabetes. Since the reopening, she has stayed indoors and has disinfected every home delivery that has arrived, but the couple still caught the virus.
Their daughter, also sick with Covid, scoured various locations during a cold Beijing winter for Paxlovid, Pfizer’s anti-viral Covid medication, before finally purchasing a single box off the black market at 7500 CNY ($1,000).
“My husband has recovered smoothly. It’s a big relief for me,” Mrs. Liu says. “But when the second wave comes, what will happen to him?”
Mrs. Wang, Another Beijing resident, says “2022 was the worst year for us. I can only pray 2023 won’t be any worse.”
