Coronavirus: be more patient with China’s zero-Covid drive, People’s Daily urges

Name: Explainer: What is the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th national congress?
Uploaded: 2022-10-10T09:17:43.000Z
Duration: 5 min 51 s
Description: Explainer: What is the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th national congress?

A commentary in the Communist Party mouthpiece says confidence is ‘more important than gold’ in fight against the epidemic

China is reporting more Covid cases after the national public holiday

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As coronavirus cases rise following a national holiday, Chinese are being urged to be more confident and patient about zero-Covid controls. Photo: AFP

Salina Li

Published: 5:17pm, 10 Oct 2022

Chinese people should “boost their confidence … and patience” in the country’s stringent zero-Covid controls, according to a commentary published on Monday in Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

“Confidence is more important than gold in the fight against the epidemic … the prevention and control guidelines are effective against the Omicron variant,” the commentary said.

It added that China can still achieve early detection, isolation and treatment of Covid-19 even though the stealthy transmission of the virus causes more asymptomatic and mild infections.

The commentary came ahead of the 20th party congress, which begins on Sunday, and follows a long public holiday that saw a spike in domestic travel as coronavirus cases climbed. Nearly 2,000 infections were reported on Sunday, with 373 local confirmed cases and 1,566 asymptomatic cases.

Frustration has grown ahead of the twice-a-decade national congress, and local governments across China are doubling down on zero-Covid controls by imposing measures such as pre-emptive lockdowns and bans to prevent coronavirus flare-ups.

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Explainer: What is the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th national congress?

China has shown no signs of abandoning its zero-tolerance approach, while many other countries have chosen to live with the virus and loosened restrictions.

But public patience for the strict measures is wearing thin, as sudden lockdowns spark shortages in food and other essential items, while travel and work has been severely disrupted.