COVID Zero: The High Price of Containment

Vision Zero: a strategy to eliminate road crashes, particularly those with fatal outcomes. COVID Zero: a strategy to end coronavirus transmission. Only one has worked—but at a steep price.

3 minute read

January 27, 2022, 12:00 PM PST

By Irvin Dawid


COVID-19 Test

shin sang eun / Shutterstock

On Monday, 13 million Chinese residents in Xi'an were released from a 32-day lockdown that Chinese authorities had initiated after "more than 140 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms since Dec. 12 in its latest cluster caused by the Delta variant of the coronavirus," as Reuters reported on December 22, 2021.

'Lockdown' is a loaded word and should be used sparingly, as the extreme public health and safety measure goes far beyond any coronavirus business or gathering restrictions experienced in the U.S., as the Reuters report illustrated.

Starting Thursday [Dec. 23], only one person in each Xian household can go out for necessary shopping every two days, while other family members must stay home unless they have essential jobs, Xian government official Zhang Fenghu told a news briefing.

"The harsh lockdown in Xi’an became a symbol of the extreme measures that China’s government has taken to control Covid after testimonies emerged on Chinese social media of problems including people struggling to get enough food," report  John Liu and Paul Mozur for The New York Times on January 24.

In other cases, those in need of medical care were denied entry to hospitals because of stringent epidemic prevention measures. In one case, a pregnant woman was refused treatment because of an expired coronavirus test. She later lost her child.

COVID Metrics

While extreme, the Chinese government credits their Zero Covid strategy for containing the coronavirus and achieving the "path to near-zero case incidence," as Harvard scholar Danielle Allen described in an early pandemic post.

On the day the lockdown was lifted, China averaged 87 infections, or less than 1 per 100,000 people, according to The New York Times global coronavirus tracker. Daily average deaths were zero. The World Health Organization's COVID tracker for China shows the last two COVID deaths were recorded on Jan. 10 and on Dec. 20.

By contrast, the U.S. approach to the pandemic has resulted in over 2,000 people dying daily since Jan. 20 from "a preventable and treatable disease," in the words of the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

On Jan. 24, the U.S. averaged over 738,000 cases, according to the Times, a daily case incidence of 223 per 100,000 people. Daily average deaths exceeded 2,360, a rate of 0.71 deaths per 100,000 people. Russia had the second-highest average daily deaths, nearly 670, a rate of 0.46 per 100,000 people.

Sustainable?

"But many cases have involved the highly transmissible Omicron variant, and with each passing day, the government’s dogged pursuit of “zero Covid” is looking harder to achieve," wrote New York Times correspondents Amy Qin and Amy Chang Chien on Jan. 21. "Many wonder how long it can be maintained without causing widespread, lasting disruptions to China’s economy and society."

Related in Planetizen:

Monday, January 24, 2022 in The New York Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 25, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Western U.S. indicating public lands that would be for sale under a Senate plan in yellow and green.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands

For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

June 19, 2025 - Outdoor Life

Person wearing mask walking through temporary outdoor dining setup lined with bistro lights at dusk in New York City.

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?

Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

June 19, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Route 66 motel neon sign.

Albuquerque Route 66 Motels Become Affordable Housing

A $4 million city fund is incentivizing developers to breathe new life into derelict midcentury motels.

30 minutes ago - High Country News

Green public transit bus at stop in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DC Area County Eliminates Bus Fares

Montgomery County joins a growing trend of making transit free.

1 hour ago - The Washington Post

Close-up of full beer glass with purple train-themed design sitting on bar between two frosty tall cans.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?

TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

June 30 - Cities Today

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.