Disaster or zero-Covid? China has no choice for now, top health official says
- Head of coronavirus expert panel says low vaccination among the elderly and a lack of medical care means the country can’t take a risk against Omicron
- The price of vaccines and mass screenings is worth it but must be balanced with people’s lives, he says
Liang said those risks warranted the cost to the country, including of vaccines, mass screenings and building makeshift hospitals.
He said the policy was a general guideline and the specific measures could be modified over time. But the core of the policy was to quickly discover outbreaks and take a series of speedy measures to cut transmission and prevent community spread, he said.
“The key is to effectively recognise and manage the source of transmission, cut transmission chains, and protect vulnerable groups so that the outbreak does not rebound on a large scale,” he said.
But he also acknowledged the need to balance pandemic prevention with the lives of the public, including their medical needs.
Liang added that there needed to be an emergency mechanism, proper channels for supplying necessities, a stock of medical items for pandemic prevention, including masks and ventilators, and other tools, including nucleic acid tests, quarantine centres and transport vehicles.