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COVID-19 Outbreak In China Began Before Restrictions Were Eased: WHO
(CTN NEWS) – On Wednesday, the World Health Organization reported that the flare-up in Covid-19 cases in China was well underway before the government began easing restrictions.
After nearly three years of trying to eradicate the virus, the China government abruptly abandoned its zero-Covid policy, scrapping mass testing and quarantines.
The flare-up in Covid-19 cases in China was well underway before the government began easing restrictions, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
https://t.co/oeSyTEYfia— The Youth Times (@youthtimes) December 15, 2022
“In China, the explosion of cases is not due to the lifting of Covid restrictions. China’s outbreak began long before the zero-Covid policy was eased,” said WHO emergency chief Michael Ryan.
The narrative goes that China lifted the restrictions, and suddenly, the disease is out of control,” he said at the U.N. health agency Geneva headquarters.
He said, referring to the control measures, “I think the Chinese authorities have strategically determined that that, for them, is not the best option anymore.”
As a result of the Omicron variant of the virus, which was detected around a year ago, China-style restrictions are less effective than they were against previous strains when vaccination coverage was low.
Image Credit: Reuters
He told a press conference at the U.N. correspondents’ association that the super-transmissibility of Omicron made it impossible to use public health or social measures to fully contain the virus.
According to Ryan, such measures had primarily been used to protect health systems during an increase in vaccination rates, but now they have become less useful.
Data from Hong Kong shows that inactivated Chinese vaccines perform
very well when given the third dose. However, it did take the third dose to show that effect,” he said.
He added: “The increase in transmission intensity occurred long before any policy change.”
【#WHO:中国松绑清零政策前】
【确诊病例就已激增】
中国政府放宽新冠病毒防疫措施后，确诊病例快速增加。不过，法新社报道，世卫组织公共卫生紧急计划执行主任莱恩（Michael Ryan）说：“中国确诊呈现爆炸性成长，与解除新冠防疫措施无关，早在松绑清零政策之前病例就已经开始激增。”(AP图) pic.twitter.com/BsrvCmYoVB— 自由亚洲电台 (@RFA_Chinese) December 15, 2022
Leaders in China are determined to push ahead despite a surge in cases that experts fear are beyond their capabilities.
It is estimated that millions of elderly are still unvaccinated, and underfunded hospitals do not have the resources to deal with an influx of infected patients.
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