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Medical workers in protective suits check on a child patient as they conduct ward rounds at Shanghai New International Exhibition Hall, which has been turned into a makeshift Covid-19 hospital in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

No home isolation for mild Covid-19 cases, China’s chief epidemiologist says

  • Even asymptomatic patients risk spreading the disease or becoming badly ill, Wu Zunyou says
  • Dynamic zero tolerance remains the country’s best option, he says
China will not let asymptomatic Covid-19 patients isolate at home because of the risk of spreading the disease or developing severe illness, according to one of the country’s top epidemiologists.

“There remain risks if the so-called asymptomatic carriers are quarantined at home,” Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Tuesday, as he defended the policy to send all asymptomatic carriers to centralised quarantine facilities.

“There are two kinds of risks. First, they may further spread the disease [at home], and second, the person might have missed the best chance for treatment [if he shows symptoms later]. The person may become severely ill or face the risk of death,” Wu said, adding some asymptomatic people were actually pre-symptomatic.

01:27

Shanghai’s citywide Covid-19 lockdown spurs race to stockpile food across China

Shanghai’s citywide Covid-19 lockdown spurs race to stockpile food across China
In Shanghai, where 25 million people are under a de facto lockdown to contain an outbreak driven by the Omicron variant, hundreds of thousands of asymptomatic cases have been sent to quarantine centres and other facilities.

But these facilities have run out of beds, with videos and social media posts showing people stranded for hours on buses on the way to quarantine.

Some Shanghai residents have questioned why home quarantine is not allowed for mild or asymptomatic carriers.

Defending the policy, Wu said that putting asymptomatic and mild cases together did not increase their risk of infection.

While in quarantine, asymptomatic patients could also be treated with traditional Chinese medicine to prevent them from becoming severe cases.

01:30

Locked-down Shanghai hosts a balcony concert to boost morale

Locked-down Shanghai hosts a balcony concert to boost morale
China is pursuing a “dynamic zero” policy, trying to identify every positive case and cut off all transmissions by quarantining all carriers.

Wu said China still had a high level of infections and the outbreaks were still spreading.

He added the country would double down on its zero-tolerance policy.

“We have to insist on the policy of dynamic zero tolerance. We should … be even more determined and confident to carry out all our control and prevention measures,” he said.

When asked whether China would seek a third way – neither zero tolerance nor coexisting with the virus – Wu said dynamic zero tolerance remained the best strategy for the country.

“The implementation of the control and prevention measures in the past two years shows that dynamic zero tolerance best suits the situation in China and it is the best choice for our country to contain outbreaks,” he said.

Wu added that other countries had no choice but to tangping – lie down or be passive – because they could not find an effective way to contain Covid-19.

As of Monday, more than 1.2 billion people in China were fully vaccinated, according to health authorities.

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