China Sticks to Our-Style COVID-19 Prevention Policy

Western Claims Treating Omicron as Flu Lack Scientific Basis... Reckless Easing of Quarantine Measures Will Be a Disaster
Omicron Peaks in March, Zero-COVID Policy to Continue Despite Decline in Cases

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Chinese authorities, criticized for excessive COVID-19 prevention (control) policies, have stated their intention to maintain the existing 'Zero (0) COVID' policy.

The state-run Global Times quoted Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, reporting on the 7th that China plans to continue its COVID-19 prevention policy introduced after the pandemic.

Photo by Global Times Capture

Wu Zunyou, seemingly aware of overseas criticism of China's excessive prevention policies, explained, "There are still many cases of infection with variant viruses in countries with high vaccination rates such as Europe," adding, "The best way to reduce catastrophic consequences caused by reckless easing of prevention measures is thorough prevention." He emphasized, "Despite vaccination, variant viruses like Omicron are spreading," and "The most efficient way to suppress the epidemic is thorough prevention."

The Global Times reported that due to China's thorough prevention policy, China shows a completely different pattern compared to other countries such as the United States, noting that since the initial outbreak in Wuhan in 2020, there have been no deaths from COVID-19 infections in China.

Wu Zunyou predicted that March will be the peak of COVID-19 infections. He forecasted, "Due to Omicron, the number of infections worldwide will increase until March and then decrease." He added, "Although some say that March will determine the end of the pandemic, there is no scientific basis for this," and stated that China's controlled prevention policy will continue.

Wu Zunyou pointed out, "Western countries tend to treat Omicron as the flu because its severity and fatality rates are lower than those of variants like Delta," but he noted, "Omicron infects different parts of the respiratory system than the flu, so it cannot be considered the flu."

Overseas athletes participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics have expressed discomfort with China's excessive prevention policies, putting China's controlled prevention policy under scrutiny. China enforces a two-week facility quarantine policy for overseas arrivals. The quarantine period for arrivals in Beijing is three weeks. A negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test (PCR) certificate is required before entry, and at least two tests are conducted during the quarantine period after arrival. Internally, if a COVID-19 case is confirmed, not only close contacts but also the area where the case was found is completely locked down under control policies.

Meanwhile, the U.S. think tank Council on Foreign Relations recently diagnosed in a report that the highly contagious Omicron variant poses a challenge to China's prevention policy. Due to the low effectiveness of Chinese vaccines, most of the Chinese population is vulnerable to the Omicron variant. The report warned that a large-scale outbreak caused by Omicron could occur and eventually engulf the entire country. It also expressed concern that if the Omicron variant spreads in China, it could disrupt global supply chains and intensify inflationary pressures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.