Dynamic zero-COVID approach best option for China in fighting Omicron

Residents queue up for nucleic acid testing at a COVID-19 test site in Dongcheng District of Beijing, April 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The dynamic zero-COVID approach remains the best option for China in striking a balance between epidemic response and economic development, Chinese health officials said Friday, noting that the more contagious Omicron variants leave no room for relaxation of the policy.

"Nationwide, the current wave of epidemic is diminishing amid fluctuations," said Li Bin, deputy head of the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference.

At present, cluster infections in regions including Jilin have been contained, and the work to clear community-level infections in Shanghai is progressing well, according to the NHC.

NO ROOM FOR RELAXATION

In the face of outbreaks caused by the more infectious Omicron variants, a relaxation of epidemic control and prevention is not an option for China, top Chinese epidemiologist Liang Wannian told Friday's press conference.

The country is yet to get its elderly and underage population fully vaccinated. In the meantime, different parts of the country face discrepancies in medical resources, Liang, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under the NHC, noted.

By Thursday, over 215 million people aged 60 and above, or 81.49 percent of the age group, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on the Chinese mainland, NHC figures show.

"Under such circumstances, the country's medical resources will be stretched too thin should we adopt a laissez-faire epidemic containment approach," said Liang.

Regarding anti-epidemic work in Beijing and Shanghai, Liang said that swift and full implementation of containment policies is needed to effectively contain infections caused by the Omicron variants and stay one step ahead of the virus.

Li Bin reiterated that the dynamic zero-COVID approach does not aim to eliminate all infections nationwide, adding that the country has accumulated considerable experience in its counter-epidemic work, and will further fine-tune its approach as the situation evolves.

A BALANCED APPROACH

Also on Friday, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee convened a meeting, during which the Chinese leadership called for upholding the dynamic zero-COVID approach to protect people's lives and health, and to minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development.

By pursuing its dynamic zero-COVID approach, China has managed to safeguard people's lives and well-being, and has minimized the epidemic's impact on economic and social development to the largest extent, Li Bin told Friday's press conference.

Li listed clear requirements to address the difficulties of some COVID-affected residents in seeking medical services, including coordinating epidemic prevention and control with medical services within medical institutions and ensuring the treatment of acute and critical patients, pregnant women and newborns in areas under closed-off management.

For the critically ill, the buffer zones in emergency rooms or operating rooms should be put into use in a timely manner when their nucleic acid test results are yet unknown, he said.

Liang Wannian on Friday rebutted the claim that China's dynamic zero-COVID policy has impeded the country's economic growth, saying the approach does not run counter to economic development and normal production and life.

The dynamic zero-COVID approach coordinates measures against the epidemic with economic development, Liang said, noting that the virus is the true cause of the economic downturn.