The 4Rs approach to COVID-19 emergency management during the post-pandemic period: What lessons can be learned from Shenzhen, China?

The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (or Omicron) is extremely contagious and has swept the world in a short period. Shenzhen—a new international city in China with a permanent population of 17.56 million and covering nearly 2000 square kilometers—was attacked by Omicron in 2022. However, the pandemic was controlled in a very short time as a result of prompt government reaction that prevented the variant's further spread. The total number of cases in this wave of the pandemic was more than 2600. Shenzhen's successful experience in tackling the Omicron wave deserves in-depth discussion. Proposed by American scholar Robert Heath, the 4Rs model aims to reduce the harm from a crisis through the measures of reduction, readiness, response, and recovery. This article presents the successful experience of Shenzhen's local government and the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, the only hospital in Shenzhen designated to use the 4Rs emergency management model for the treatment of COVID-19 during the 2022 Omicron wave of the pandemic.