Zero Covid policy proves to be a lifesaver

Nobody can disagree that coronavirus has created a global health threat unlike any other in our lifetime. The world is going through a tough time.

By going through tough times before, China has mastered the art of controlling the devastating and highly infectious virus and precisely coming up with its dynamic zero-Covid policy. Many in the West are seen trying to question the policy. They seem to be desperate to question the unparalleled success of China in protecting the lives of people through implementing this policy.

However, the people—speaking of Chinese and foreigners living in China—are ever grateful to the government of China for keeping them safe from coronavirus. They believe that the stricter implementation of the zero-Covid policy has saved their lives. Thus, the policy has already proved to be the most efficient to save the highest number of lives in China and beyond.

By looking into the pandemic situations in developed nations, we can easily realize the reasons why people praise the zero-Covid policy of China. From January 3, 2020, to April 14, 2022, the US has documented 79,716,960 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 979,321 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Apart from the epidemiological impacts, the US is bleeding white as the pandemic continues to take a heavy toll on its economic sectors. In 2020, the US GDP slimmed down 3.5 percent, the biggest and first contraction since 1946 and 2009, respectively, according to Yahoo Finance.

The US Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey mentioned that 51.1 percent of its respondents lost employment income, 12.1 percent had food scarcity, 40.1 percent delayed getting medical care and 26.5 percent lost housing security for several weeks since March 13, 2020. From February through June of 2020, the number of people with jobs was down by 14.6 million. The US also added $3.1 trillion to the public debt in just four months in that same year.

On the contrary, the conditions of China in the corresponding periods, we see a different reality. In China, from January 3, 2020, to April 14, 2022, there were 954,346 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 14,440 deaths, which clearly shows the number of fatalities in the US exceeds those of confirmed cases in China.

On the economic front, China became the only major economy to report economic growth for 2020. China's economy expanded by 2.2 percent and became the only major world economy to grow in a pandemic-ravaged year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In addition, when the entire world was struggling to control the pandemic with its distinctive policies and strategies, China has been the first country to turn the tide of Covid-19. Therefore, since the control of the first wave of the virus, the number of infections in China never surpassed the hundred mark until the beginning of the current surge. The secret to the tremendous success of China lies in the dynamic zero-Covid policy.

Here I have compared the conditions of China with those of the US. However, many more major and developed countries were only second to the US when it comes to fighting the pandemic. Nevertheless, many seem to be desperate to blame China's dynamic zero-Covid policy. The world has witnessed these countries spare no efforts to slander China under any circumstances.

They first tried to establish China as the origin country of coronavirus. World scientists, including the World Health Organization (WHO), dismissed their baseless claims. They later started an all-out smear campaign against the dynamic zero-Covid policy of China. They are trying to tarnish China's image by saying that the policy is violating individual freedom, human rights to free movement and some social rights.

While chastising China for its zero-Covid policy, they hide the truth about how many human lives have been saved by the policy. They forget to mention that the right to life is the most basic of human rights. Every right is aimed at facilitating the development of our potential and ensuring our survival as human beings. The dynamic zero-Covid policy is defending the very right to life. These people who point a finger at China also know the truth, but they are condemning China's policy only to cover up their failures in saving their people's lives from coronavirus.

Musundali Bhuiyan is a Bangladeshi journalist and columnist now based in Beijing.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

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