Coronavirus: Chinese city pushes ‘flu-like’ Omicron message as zero-Covid rules eased despite rise in cases
- Guangzhou officials underline reduced virulence of Omicron and its subvariants, as several districts ease zero-Covid restrictions despite rising cases
- Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan has said Omicron is more transmissible but less deadly, signalling a new chapter in China’s pandemic response
Covid-19 is now no more serious than a seasonal cold and there is no need to panic, Guangzhou health authorities sought to assure the public, as pandemic controls were relaxed in several districts of the southern Chinese factory hub despite rising caseloads.
In a public service message broadcast on Friday, a group of health experts in Guangzhou said symptoms caused by the Omicron subvariants behind the current wave were very mild and similar to those for seasonal colds.
“The virulence of the new coronavirus [Omicron] has now evolved to the level of the seasonal flu, and some are even less virulent than the flu, so you really don’t need to panic,” said Tang Xiaoping, director of the No 8 People’s Hospital in Guangzhou and head of the national key clinical department of infectious diseases.
The joint statement came as several Guangzhou districts moved to lift area lockdowns and relax Covid-19 controls, which had seen demonstrators clash with police and community workers in hazmat suits in the hardest-hit Haizhu district just days earlier.
Authorities said close contacts of patients eligible for home quarantine should do so as well, and only close contacts were to be tested instead of the launch of mass testing.