Thanks for all the input. I’ve been concerned about the positive test procedures/hospital requirements and even tho the current transmission is low the repercussions are harsh. If anyone has other comments or resources I’d appreciate hearing them. Please post or you’re welcome to PM. Thanks again.

I did see a post a while back about an Italian foreign resident who was allowed to finish quarantine/isolation (not a positive case afaik) at the Italian Embassy, I think it was on FT. I wondered if the Embassy/Consulates are of any help.

Thirteen months and no pilgrimage to WUH?

Well, he did make it to Zhengzhou and Changsha, which are kind of the same as Wuhan in my book. I guess I kind of like Changsha though.

For some reason I skipped WUH. Maybe a little bit psychological.

I did visited CGO, CSX and LYA, Changde 常德, Hengyang 衡阳 and Zhangjiajie 张家界.

My most favorite places in China are Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing and Sanya.

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You folks really should visit Zhangjiajie 张家界 in western Hunan Province. The scenic views are stunning.

Ugh, jealous! Great photos. It's on my list...

My optimistic hope is that I can get into either Taiwan or Hong Kong by the end of the year.

Well surprisingly Paxlovid was approved: https://www.reuters.com/business/hea...id-2022-02-12/
And the BioNTech vaccine still isn't.

The Global Times is still trying to put a positive spin on it but to me it's a positive sign that the narrative is starting to shift away from the existing status quo. Like I said last year they will really start to feel the pressure if every other country drops restrictions, which started to happen in summer 2021 but then stopped because of Omicron.

It also doesn't look like Hong Kong can maintain Covid Zero any longer so that might open up too.

Apples and oranges. They haven't been touting any China-developed antivirals, so there isn't really a loss-of-face element.

I skimmed a Global Times article on Paxlovid (probably the same one you referred to), and my recollection was that there will (almost) no changes to the "zero-Covid" policies as a result of its introduction here, but that they are hopeful that it will reduce strain on the medical system (e.g. by preventing infections from advancing to critical stages).

Further reinforces my understanding of Chinese socialism medical policy - if it isn't available for everyone, it's not available to anyone.
All or nothing.

In some ways I understand the reasons behind this - medical policy is perhaps not one of the areas where "you want to let some people get rich first".
Especially during a pandemic.
A bit like NHS in the UK, but in the socialism with Chinese characteristics sort of way.

But then again that "national standard" level is not something I'm happy with.
This was something that weighed on my mind against moving to Mainland permanently when I racked up enough public firm experience to get my CPA/CA.

They are launching vaccine passports for international travel and slowly allowing people to renew passports. The Pfizer meds are also another sign.

I think zero Covid is hurting them more than they are letting on now and I’d expect the media to transition over to a more “we need to live with it” message over the next 6 months culminating in some sort of managed opening after the big October conference. The nomenklatura is getting restless and misses their waits for LV bags on the Champs Elysees. It’s not the same feeling buying your bag in Xujiahui or Xidan.

Fosun (BioNtech) could have easily been available to all. At the risk of drifting into conspiracy-laden waters, I'll stop there.

Do you know whether that agreement is only about the ancestral strain vaccine or would it include the currently under development Omicron specific vaccine?

That's a bit of a moot point but if they had been cranking out product for the past year, I'm guessing the upgrade would have been approved without issue.

I agree with everything you stated, but to wait until after October can mean 2022 is gone. We all know implementation takes time. For example, airlines won't have all the staff ready on moments of notice after almost three years of hiatus. Many have been laid off.
It is really frustrating. Hong Kong is probably worse with its lower vaccination rate, lack of infrastructure for mass testing and adverse to change mentality.

I've not contributed to this discussion so far because I still had a spouse and cat trapped in HK but they're now free and will touch down in Bangkok in about 20 minutes. Having spent the Great Plague in both Shenzhen (Aug 2020 - March 2021) and HK (March 2020 - August 2020 + March 2021 - Dec 2021) I can say that day to day life in Shenzhen was a lot more normal than in HK with pretty much no mask wearing by locals or foreigners in Shenzhen (apart from on the metro) and all the bars, restaurants, shops, gyms, and services open and operating as normal in Futian. HK, on the other hand, suffers from the ever-present risk of arbitrary detention in Penny's Bay (yup, I was rounded up and incarcerated for bizarre, spurious reasons) and random, inconsistent rule changes which have got even worse since I escaped at the end of December.

I also think that HK's covid quarantine policy is worse and more debilitating than the mainland making it more isolated from the rest of the world even taking the mainland's challenging visa requirements into account. We had planned on living in HK until at least August this year and possibly another two years after that. After my experience since last March with the administration there, I will never return. Ever. What's happened to HK (and, as we're on Flyertalk, by extension Cathay) is a tragedy but at some point you have to move on from past experience.