China’s National Health Commission today announced an “optimization” of the country’s COVID-prevention policy, which includes the easing of quarantine requirements for foreign travelers and modifications expected to limit the scope of lockdowns. At the end of October, videos began circulating on social media of workers at an iPhone plant in the city of Zhengzhou fleeing factory grounds to escape a quarantine lockdown of some 200,000 employees. Whether the workers wanted to escape the lockdown itself or avoid COVID infection, the incident highlighted the ongoing challenges China faces in its management of the epidemic, and underlined questions surrounding the longevity of China’s zero-COVID policy.
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