Quiz: do you Know how Mortgage Rates are Determined?
As the epidemic receded, the focus shifted towards restarting economic activity and preventing a resurgence of the virus. Health code applications contain personalized risk information, based on recent contacts and test results. As the number of imported cases rose and the number of domestic cases fell, China began imposing restrictions on entry into the country. Since the end of the initial outbreak in Wuhan, there have been additional, smaller outbreaks caused by imported cases, which have been controlled through short-term, localized intense public health measures. Inbound flights were restricted, and all incoming passengers were required to undergo quarantine. Reopening was accompanied by an increase in testing and the development of electronic “health codes” (using smartphone applications) to facilitate contact tracing.
Daily new cases peaked to over 70,000 by March, a far cry from the single-digit daily case loads from Hong Kong’s successful implementation of Zero-COVID. The massive death toll and high infection rates while maintaining strict eradication protocols led to the calls for authorities to review Hong Kong’s Zero COVID strategy, as well as questioning the sustainability of such an approach with the Omicron variant. 7,000 in a span of a few weeks, leading Hong Kong’s Covid-19 deaths per capita, once far lower than those of Western nations, to become the highest in the world during March.
During the politburo meeting, the previous anti-pandemic strategy was criticised. NK News reported that the entire country had been placed under a lockdown two days prior, though farmers in border regions close to South Korea were seen still tending the fields. It was later reported by state media that at least one North Korean died after testing positive, and that 187,800 people are now under quarantine due to “fever”. Scotland pursued a slower approach to lifting the lockdown than other nations of the UK, and expanded a “test and trace” system. The Scottish government’s approach diverged with that of the central British government in April 2020, after a UK-wide lockdown began being lifted.
On 15 May 2021, Taiwan identified more than 100 daily cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic. In April 2022, the government departed from Zero-COVID, launching a revised strategy – billed as the “new Taiwanese model” – that no longer focuses on total suppression, but rather shifts to mitigating the effects of the pandemic. Premier Su Tseng-chang was cited as saying the new model is not the same as “living with COVID-19”, as the virus would not be allowed to spread unchecked, but active prevention of the virus’ spread would be balanced with allowing people to live normal lives and a stable reopening of the economy.
