zero COVID

• zero Covid, zero covid
• zero-Covid

• Rhymes: -əʊvɪd

zero COVID (uncountable)

1. Having zero cases of COVID-19.
   • 2020 June 7, Isko Moreno, “‘Tondominium’ and quarantine facility goals met”, in Manila Bulletin:

     But of course, this is one project I hope we won't have to use at all. Having zero COVID is still the main and primary goal.

   • 2020 August 20, McKenzie, Lewis, “Boris Johnson urged to adopt ‘zero-Covid’ strategy to tackle virus”, in Press Association, London:

     Compulsory social distancing measures across England should also be maintained until zero-Covid is achieved, according to the group, with working from home actively encouraged.

   • 2020 October 7, McKee, Martin, “Achieving zero covid is not easy, but the alternative is far worse”, in British Medical Journal, volume 371:

     No one pretends that achieving zero covid is easy, but in the long term the alternative is far worse.

   • 2022 May 14, Ren, Daniel, “Shanghai Aims to control outbreak within a week: Locked-down city targets May 20 to achieve ‘societal zero-Covid’ goal, vice-mayor Wu Qing says”, in South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, page B10:

     The prospect of societal zero-Covid is seen as a watershed in Shanghai’s anti-pandemic work. “If the city were to bring new cases in the low-risk zones to zero or near zero in the coming days, the citywide lockdown would be lifted at a gradual pace,” said Meng Tianying, a senior executive at Shanghai-based consultancy Domo Medical.

2. A strategy designed or intended to eliminate or completely exclude COVID-19.
   • 2020 July 28, Veronica Hackenbroch, quoting Devi Sridhar, “Government Adviser Devi Sridhar What Europe Can Learn from Scotland in Fighting the Pandemic”, in Yerepouni Daily News, Beirut:

     China and New Zealand have shown that the elimination of the virus is technically possible and not even particularly difficult, even though there will always be minor setbacks. Before we have a good vaccine, “Zero COVID” is by far the best strategy to get the economy going again and allow a normal life.

   • 2021 January 24, McCarthy, Colm, “Endless trade-off between lives and livelihoods won't win war on Covid”, in Sunday Independent, Dublin, page 26:

     Zero Covid is an unfortunate term for a policy target. Some viruses can linger on forever as relatively harmless afflictions once vaccines and therapies become available while others are harder for the medical experts to counter.

   • 2022 January 13, Li, Yuan, “Zeal in China For Zero Covid Is Taking a Toll”, in New York Times, page A1:

     China's “zero Covid” policy has a dedicated following: the millions of people who work diligently toward that goal, no matter the human costs.

   • 2022 June 3, CNN Newsroom, Beijing, spoken by Selina Wang:

     Zero COVID is not going away any time soon in China, and neither will the disruptions to people's daily lives.