People line up outside a vaccination site after the city started offering booster shots of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to vaccinated residents, in Beijing, China (REUTERS/Tingshu Wang)
Beijing [China]: As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread in more and more cities in China, questions are mounting over the country’s zero covid policy.
Mainland China reported 2,666 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 51 more deaths in the past 24 hours, the country’s National Health Commission said on Monday.
Of the new cases, 2,472 infections were reported in Shanghai, while the rest of the cases were reported in 17 other provincial-level regions.
China has witnessed an increase in outbreaks across the country, and the number of cases has grown rapidly.
Since March, the number of local coronavirus cases has exceeded 500,000, with the epidemic emerging and rebounding in many places.
In an editorial published by the state media outlet Global Times, the newspaper stated that it is more important for China to adhere to the “dynamic zero” policy as the essence of this policy is high speed and accuracy.
The English language daily said the past experience has proven that the “dynamic zero” strategy, which aims to tamp down the outbreak once it’s detected, is effective and correct.
“Facing the Omicron variant which is featured by rapid spread, strong concealment, and a short incubation period, ‘fighting with speed’ is still the key to prevention and control,” the editorial said.
According to GT, some regions arbitrarily close off highways with the excuse of epidemic prevention and control, while some impose “static management” even if no infections have been reported.
Other places prohibit farmers from farming even if there is no COVID-19 outbreak locally. “These practices are all twisting the dynamic zero-COVID policy,” the newspaper said. (ANI)
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