Ensuring smooth, orderly transition to Class-B management of COVID-19

Children skate at a business center in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's announcement earlier this week to downgrade its management of the infectious disease of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B, starting from Jan. 8, 2023, is a major shift of its COVID-19 response policy.

Accordingly, response measures against COVID-19, which is classified as a Class-B infectious disease, will also be adjusted. For example, quarantine measures against people infected with novel coronavirus will be stopped, and their close contacts will no longer be identified.

The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging around the world, and the spread of the virus in China has a generally rapid rising trend. Due to differences in population mobility, population density and immunity level in various population groups, different localities will experience infection surge at different times in the coming period.

While adhering to the principle of putting the people and their lives above all else, it is imperative to shift the focus of the work from COVID-19 prevention and control to medical treatment, and ensure smooth and orderly transition to Class-B management of COVID-19.

To this end, every effort must be made to treat severe cases and decrease the mortality rate.

Particular attention should be paid to groups at high risk of becoming severe cases, including the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions, aiming to minimize numbers of severe cases and deaths.

At the same time, more efforts will be made to ensure the supply of drugs and optimize the allocation of medical and health resources.