Anyone hoping for an easing of Zero COVID policy after Xi Jinping secured his position as President for life in China will be disappointed. Zero COVID remains a new normal for Chinese society.
Data released to The Sun Online economic analysis firm Nomura shows 208million people are currently living under some level of lockdown in China.
It is believed two highly contagious subvariant of Omicron - BF.7 and BA.5.1.7 - are responsible for the recent spike in cases.
China officials have described the variants as "highly contagious" as they can also infect people who had been previously immune.
The wide range of the cities under restrictions means Zero COVID remains utterly useless at stopping the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It also means that China’s economy will continue to suffer the destructive effects of lockdowns, all but ending any hope within China for a meaningful economic recovery.
For the US, it means more supply chain dislocations are in the near future. That means consumer price inflation is likely not quite done with the US.
Interesting times ahead….
It's almost like the debt-saturated countries (which includes pretty much the entire first world, plus China) are all looking for some kind of excuse to blame the inevitable economic collapse on.
Better surveillance of the population than in Mao's time!