THIS’LL HELP MORALE: Quote from Beijing official on ‘5 years’ of COVID-19 restrictions causes stir. “Residents of Beijing reacted with confusion and alarm Monday when a top Communist Party official was quoted in official media saying strict COVID-19 policies could be in place for five years. A story first posted in the Beijing Daily, the official publication of the capital’s ruling party, quoted former mayor and current party chief Cai Qi as saying the city will uphold the controversial ‘zero-COVID’ policy ‘for the next five years,’ the Guardian and CNN reported.”

This is the 21st Century version of the Chinese Communist Party’s many other stupid policies inflexibly applied, from “little steel” to the one-child policy.