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Zero-Covid is still the best choice for China now, top adviser says
- Omicron remains an unknown and more variants will come along, Liang Wannian warns
- The country’s approach has put it in a ‘safe position and has been cost-effective’
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China’s zero-Covid policy is still the “best choice available” as Omicron looks set to dominate, according to the country’s top government adviser on the coronavirus.
Liang Wannian, a former National Health Commission official and head of a panel of experts advising the government on its coronavirus strategy, gave the assessment on Saturday after many countries started easing pandemic restrictions in response to the highly transmissible but less severe Omicron variant.
Asked whether China would consider easing rules now that most people were fully vaccinated, Liang warned that hospitalisations and deaths had risen in many countries after removing controls.
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“If we look at the pandemic from a global perspective, it is still at an acute phase. There are many uncertainties in the development,” he said.
“Omicron will gradually become the main infection strain globally with its speed and impact of spread. But we are still unclear about the science behind it, such as its pathogenicity and the aftereffects of infection.”
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He said China’s existing measures had effectively minimised the spread of Covid-19 and contained outbreaks within one to two rounds of the longest incubation periods.
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