China reviewing Zero-Covid policy as economic pressure intensifies

Chinese researchers are reviewing the country's zero-Covid policy and trying to find ways to improve it, as economic pressure from its zero-Covid approach intensifies, a top Chinese epidemiologist said. Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said Chinese researchers were ‘actively thinking and planning’ ways to improve the nation’s policies in dealing with the pandemic and they were “certainly able” to roll out new strategies in the near term. 

A Hong Kong based English newspaper quoted Wu saying at a forum in Beijing on Tuesday that 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.

China has largely put the virus under control through this policy, nonetheless, sporadic outbreaks keep happening forcing lockdowns and shutting of factories. State media said, epidemiologists believed that the COVID-19



prevention experience accumulated from the Winter Olympics 2022 can also inspire Chinese cities to adjust their policies, as well as the further opening of the country's borders. 

With the games concluding on Sunday, there have been 435 cases in the "bubble" since January 24, when official figures began to be released, and no cluster infection has been reported, said Beijing Olympic organizers on Thursday.

His comments came as debates continue as to when Beijing will relax its coronavirus restrictions, as nations such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Singapore, and Vietnam have done. Japan has also announced gradual relaxation for border controls from March. 

As Hong Kong is facing its worst COVID-19 outbreak, the city government said it is considering having mandatory coronavirus tests for all 7.4 million residents, after Chinese President Xi Jinping told the financial hub to take "all necessary measures" to curb the outbreak.