China’s success taming virus could make exit strategy harder

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and HUIZHONG WU
Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The sweeping “zero-tolerance” policies that China has employed to protect its people and economy from COVID-19 may, paradoxically, make it harder for the country to exit the pandemic. Most experts say the coronavirus isn’t going away and believe it could eventually become, like the flu, a persistent but generally manageable threat if enough people gain immunity through infections and vaccines. But China’s uncompromising approach means most of its people have never been exposed to the virus. At the same time, the effectiveness of its vaccines against omicron has been called into question.