Beijing declared a “great and decisive victory” over the coronavirus two weeks ago, but parliament and party leadership seem unsure. So for the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress on Sunday, measures that remind us of the zero-covid policy apply.

Diplomats and journalists who want to attend the opening of the Great People’s Hall on Tiananmen Square in Beijing must be quarantined in a hotel the day before. To not have to be quarantined and tested again, the ambassadors of most European countries send their cats.

It is not understood that the strict corona measures in daily life have largely been abolished, but are in force again for the annual meeting of the Chinese parliament, writes the German news agency DPA.

In a statement in mid-February, the politburo spoke of the “miracle in the history of mankind” with which the country managed to overcome the coronavirus. Despite that success, restrictions remain on Zhongnanhai, the administrative centre of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government of the People’s Republic. The employees usually are not allowed to leave the premises of the political leadership. Those who go home must first be quarantined for several days upon returning.

It is unclear how many people died in China last winter due to the corona wave. Officially 83,000 deaths in Chinese hospitals were reported. Foreign estimates, however, assume at least one million deaths. In December, the Chinese government abruptly lifted its strict zero-COVID-19 policy of lockdowns, enforced quarantines and mass testing. Since then, the true extent of the infections has been downplayed.