Covid-zero was once a dream pursued by a lot of countries, Australia included. But the arrival of highly transmissible variants, Delta and then Omicron, has brought an end to such aspirations for many, from New Zealand to Singapore and Western Australia.
However there is one place where the Covid-zero dream is still alive: China. Two years into the pandemic, China’s leadership has relied on increasingly stringent public health measures to suppress community spread of the virus. But with the added pressures of the Lunar New Year travel season and the Winter Olympics, which started in Beijing this week, is that strategy sustainable -- and for how long?
Guests
BIll Birtles
@BillBirtle
ABC China Correspondent
Associate Professor Xi Chen
@xcyale
Associate Professor, Yale School of Public Health
Host
Elizabeth Kulas
Script editing by Joel Werner