China remains adamant in its approach towards tackling Covid with its zero-Covid policy. This comes despite the nation recording 103,965 local cases in March alone. China has been known for its zero-Covid policy under which targeted lockdowns, mandatory quarantine and surveillance of citizens are the norm with violators often subjected to strict punishments.
A report by Global Times said that 29 regions across China were affected due to this ongoing surge. Shanghai is still reeling from the surge with one part of the city under lockdown. The report also pointed out that most of the Covid-19 cases in China were reported from northeast China’s Jilin Province and east China’s Shanghai. The news agency quoted China’s National Health Commission (NHC) official Lei Zhenglong who said that 90% of the total cases discovered recently originated from these two provinces with Jilin recording more than 44,000 cases and Shanghai recording more than 36,000 cases.
Jilin, Shanghai and Changchun are also witnessing community transmission which China is trying to curb. The number of active cases in China, as of Saturday, is 29,306. The news agency quoting the NHC spokesperson said that China is seeing ‘a complex and severe epidemic situation’. Mi Feng, NHC spokesperson, said that authorities should focus on coordination among different regions and serious monitoring of high-risk groups to stop the spread of the virus.
Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou suggested that China continue pursuing its zero-Covid policy to arrest the uptick in cases. “The Omicron BA.2 sub-variant spreads rapidly and will infect many people in a short time. It can still cause severe peril to a country or region. China still has the condition and will continue to focus on dynamic zero-COVID policy as the Western-like ‘lie flat’ will cause many problems such as medical resources squeezing and rising fatalities,” Wu told the Global Times.
China has vaccinated 88% of its population as of Friday which means 1.24 billion people have been fully vaccinated of which 212 million people are aged above 60. Chinese experts told Global Times that booster doses will be necessary along with more research into anti-Covid drugs as Covid still continues to infect and kill in many places across the globe.
Read the Latest News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment