World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on May 10 that China should change its zero COVID policies of restrictions in light of the more communicable Omicron variant of COVID. “We don’t think that it is sustainable, considering the behavior of the virus and what we anticipate in the future,” he said, adding that the WHO had discussed the issue with Chinese experts. “We indicated that the approach will not be sustainable. … A shift would be very important.”
Dr. Tedros’ comments also follow the increasing U.S. criticism of China’s zero COVID policy, and a shift by the Biden Administration, under the pressure of the economic crisis, to move away from COVID controls. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded to Phoenix TV’s question about to the comments at today’s daily briefing:
“China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy is not aimed at realizing zero infection, but rather at bringing COVID-19 under control at the minimum social cost in the shortest time possible so as to effectively protect the health, normal life and production of the 1.4 billion Chinese people to the maximum. I can give you an example. When cases were reported in Tianjin in January 2022, more than 10 million samples were taken within just 4.5 hours. Surgical lockdown was applied to the specific shops and residential building units concerned. The overwhelming majority of the Chinese population in most of the country can enjoy normal life and production. The COVID-19 infection rate and mortality rate in China remain the lowest in the world. According to an analysis published by The Lancet in March, global estimates of excess deaths indicate 18.2 million people may have died because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the excess mortality rate estimated to be 120 deaths per 100,000 population globally, 179 for the U.S., and 0.6 for China. Beginning from March this year, it is thanks to the dynamic zero-COVID policy that China Beginning from March this year, it is thanks to the dynamic zero-COVID policy that China has withstood the severest test in COVID-19 prevention and control since the battle to defend Wuhan and achieved effective results at the current stage. The Chinese government’s COVID-19 policy can stand the test of history. Our science-based prevention and control measures have been proven to be effective. China is one of the countries with the most successful COVID-19 response in the world. This is a fact witnessed by the international community….
“I would like to stress one last point that the Chinese government has formulated and implemented the dynamic zero-COVID policy based on China’s national realities and has been adjusting prevention and control protocols based on the changing conditions. The purpose is solely to protect people’s life and health to the greatest extent possible and underpin sustained, sound and steady economic and social development. In China, we have the foundation, the conditions and the capability to achieve dynamic zero-COVID. We have every confidence in winning this hard battle and making greater contributions to the united global response.”
(https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/202205/t20220511_10684604.html)
