It's been about a month since China opened things up and let covid rip through the population.  During that time I made a number of predictions that have been accurate for the most part.  Depending on which city it is, estimates are that up to 85% of the local population has caught covid and recovered in the last month.  I was one of those people, same with my in-laws, and almost everyone else I knew.  Amazingly, my wife is one of the few people who didn't catch it, even when I was sick.

Here are the realities of what has now happened

- The covid wave hit hard but was over just as quickly as it began.  Now there are very few people visiting hospitals and clinics for fever.

- All street PCR testing has been scrapped.  Covid tests are only needed for international flights  (more on this later)

- No more checking health QR codes, travel itineraries, or covid tests to get into buildings.

 - No more travel restrictions domestically especially no PCR tests to get into hotels.

- Most importantly, no more quarantine on arrival to the mainland.  This also means trains run freely between Hong Kong and the mainland.

- China has in fact published data and shared with the WHO.  Whatever they are reporting, who knows, but they are sending data.    

- A handful of other countries imposed restrictions on travelers from China.  Thankfully this never caught on.  Some countries that did, for example Thailand, rescinded those almost immediately because of how money they were missing out on.

At worst you just need a negative covid test to get on an airplane.  Japan and South Korea insist on quarantine if you test positive on arrival.  It makes no sense to do this now, but they're only doing it to get revenge on China which I suppose explains things.  But it isnt the smartest revenge strategy.

China being China imposed  reciprocal measures, in particular the suspension of visas from those nationals.

The trend is that covid cases have gone down drastically in China but the anxiety in other countries is slow to catch up to these realities.  Covid restrictions anywhere in 2023 in the world make no sense that the pandemic is basically over. 

Either we live with this virus and have a good time in life, or we live like hermits and might as well not live at all.  That's what the Shanghai lockdown taught me.