Protests in multiple Chinese cities over the strict COVID-19 policies enforced by China’s government reflect the growing sentiment of people around the world. We’re tired of the pandemic, and tired of the myriad ways the SARS-CoV-2 virus has changed our lives forever. But the demonstrations in China also reflect a more specific, local frustration with a strategy for controlling the virus that every other country in the world has long since left behind.
China’s zero-COVID strategy is an extension of the drastic measures instituted, not only in that country but in others around the world, including the U.S., during the early days of the pandemic in an effort to quash the virus as quickly as possible. That made sense at the beginning when people had no immunity to the virus, and there were no vaccines or treatments to fight it. In fact, instituting lockdowns and keeping people from mingling are