"Persistence is victory"; Another study predicts mass death if Covid controls removed; Xi's speech to the Youth League; Xi-Macron chat
Today’s Essential Eight:
“Persistence is victory” as measures tighten in Shanghai and Beijing -The system has its marching orders from the Standing Committee meeting last week and no measure is too harsh if it will help the local officials hit their targets for clearing cases from community transmission.
Fudan study predicts up to 1.55 million deaths if no zero-Covid strategy - As the Standing Committee said last week “Relaxing the prevention and control measures will inevitably lead to large-scale infections, a large number of serious illnesses and deaths, and will seriously affect economic and social development as well as people's lives and health”
Economic damage increasing - We are a third of the way through May, increasingly hard to see how to economy in Shanghai and the surrounded areas return to anything like normal economic activity this month.
US State Department adjusts wording about Taiwan - The Department has removed from the Taiwan page on its website “The US does not supp…