China's zero-Covid policy under review as economic pressure mounts

From South China Morning Post / BP

HONG KONG: Multiple teams in China are studying how to improve the country's anti-pandemic policies, as economic pressure from its zero-Covid approach intensifies, according to one of the nation's most prominent epidemiologists.

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said researchers were "certainly able" to roll out new strategies in the near term, while noting they were "actively thinking and planning".

Improved control measures would differ from the current "dynamic clearing" policy, but China is unlikely to simply lift all restrictions as some Western countries have done, he said at a forum on Tuesday held by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University.

Economists have warned that the divergence in coronavirus-control strategies with Western countries could put China at a comparative disadvantage, both socially and economically, while recent domestic outbreaks have heightened concerns about the rising cost of its zero-Covid approach.

He also said that even though the extensive relaxation of coronavirus rules in Europe and the United States had put a lot of pressure on China, it is unlikely to completely follow suit.

China on Saturday approved Pfizer's Covid-19 pill Paxlovid for emergency use - seen by some as a turning point in the nation's pandemic strategy.

China's aviation regulator said in its latest five-year plan issued in early January that it was focused on restoring international air travel between 2023 and 2025.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2265807/chinas-zero-covid-policy-under-review-as-economic-pressure-mounts