:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/55EOFHE5N5B2JHQI3A3CI4EDU4.webp "The person in charge of ‘Zero COVID’ assures that “the conditions are in place for China to adjust measures”")
Vice Prime Minister Sun Chunlan, in charge of supervising the ‘zero covid’ policy, assured this Thursday that the low pathogenicity of the virus and the high vaccination rate, among other factors, have “created the conditions for China adjust the measures against the pandemic”, the Xinhua agency reported last night.
Sun spoke these words at a meeting of the National Health Commissionin which “he listened to the opinions and suggestions of front-line workers on how to improve containment measures,” reports the Xinhua office.
LOOK: Some Chinese cities relax measures in the face of a “new situation” pandemic
The official stated that The Asian country’s health care and disease control systems have “withstood the challenge of the pandemic for three years,” while noting that “effective diagnostic and treatment methods and drugs have been developed” and that “more than 90% of the population is vaccinated.”
LikewiseSun called for a greater presence of epidemic control professionals in neighborhoods to “strengthen the management and health services of residents.”
This is the second day in a row that Sun has made statements that suggest an upcoming change in the ‘zero COVID’ policy, in force in the Asian country for more than two years.
On Wednesday, the official He held a meeting with experts from the Commission in which he “listened to the opinions and suggestions of the experts on how to improve the containment measures” and assured that the country is in a “new situation”.
The Sun meetings come at a time when numerous parts of the country are registering outbreaks on a scale that is unusual in China.
The restrictions imposed to try to contain the spread of the virus have led in recent days to protests in cities such as Beijing, Canton (southeast) or Shanghai (east), with slogans such as “I don’t want PCR, I want to eat” or “Give me back my freedom”.
The guideline of ‘zero covid‘ consists of the isolation of all those infected, strict border controls, partial or total confinement in places where cases are detected and constant PCR tests on the urban population.
Nucleic acid tests carried out in the previous 72 hours or less are necessary in cities to access public places such as supermarkets, parks or stores, sometimes creating long queues at the sampling booths that have created discontent in the population.
In addition, residents are subject to the possibility of being taken to a hospital or a makeshift quarantine center at any time if they contract the virus or are a close contact with an infected person, extremes that are increasingly likely as the coronavirus spreads. .
In the last two days, the local press has reported that some districts of cities such as beijing and canton They have begun to allow contacts of infected people or some infected people considered vulnerable, such as the elderly or pregnant women, to quarantine at home.
The Chinese leadership recently pointed to the large population, coupled with “unbalanced development” between regions and “insufficient medical resources”, as factors in maintaining current policies.
According to official figures, since the beginning of the pandemic, 5,233 people have died in China, where some studies maintain that ‘zero covid’ has saved millions of lives.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
