China goes its own way as the world opens up, but a course correction is in the cards
There is a growing global consensus — including in Canada — that COVID-19 is here to stay, and that we will need to adapt. China is the exception: the country’s official position is that one case of the virus is too many. But China is going to have to change course.
Each day brings a new announcement of a government loosening COVID-19 restrictions. More and more countries in the highly-vaccinated parts of the world are declaring an end to the pandemic. Officials are signalling that they will now treat the virus as endemic, like the common flu. The global decline in positive cases, weak and transient nature of the Omicron variant, and continued vaccination efforts have boosted confidence that it’s time to loosen the rules put in place to control the spread of the virus. In late February, Moderna’s chief medical offer said that COVID-19 is entering an endemic phase in the Northern Hemisphere.
Denmark became the first European Union member state to lift its domestic COVID-19 restrictions at the beginning of February. Other European countries have also relaxed rules. In the United States, Democratic state governors are joining their Republican counterparts in removing measures maintained during the Omicron wave. “The numbers are coming down and it’s time to adapt,” said New York…
