Shanghai finds 6,000 new Covid-19 infections as financial hub’s caseload grows

It records its highest daily tally of current outbreak, after steady rise in recent days

5.7 million residents of the city’s Pudong New Area are under a four-day lockdown, with Puxi set to follow

Josephine Ma

Published: 3:51pm, 30 Mar, 2022

1. Zero covid strategy won't work against Omicron - as the transmission rate R0 >10. The transmission will be too rapid and can spread easily. Not possible to achieve a zero interaction among the people - as Omicron can spread within a compound.

2. It will impose heavy penalty on :-

a. Economy - where lockdown is difficult to stop the "stealth" and "fast spreading" Omicron - but exact a heavy price on business, trade and jobs, not to mention social price paid by the people.

b. Also Omicron attack the nasal and windpipe first before it go to the throat after a few days. Notice that many China test swab the throat instead of the nose. Also, what a person eat or drink can contaminate the saliva - unlike nasal fluid. There will be many false negative in the test - and Omicron will spread quietly and rapidly.

c. The infection outcome in China demonstrate that despite the zero covid strategy, infection cases still keep multiplying.

3. Hence what covid strategy should China adopt?

a. Get mRNA as a booster - for the population vaccinated with (1 or 2 doses of inactivated virus vaccines).

b. If more than 90% over of the population received a full vaccination and a 3rd mRNA booster - Omicron will become a mild illness - with lesser chance of hospitalisation or serious illness.

c. Instead of whole city lockdown, then only those infected will need to isolate at home and wait for 7days to recover. The city can continue to operate as those infected are only experiencing mild symptoms that can recover by themselves. 

d. By doing so, business, trade, jobs and even travelling is possible as long as people are fully vaccinated and boosted.

e. Many Countries have been operating on this mode - without taking the stringent measures of zero covid lockdown - that exact tremendous pain on the business, trade, travel, business and social hardship.