Beijing, February 23 The wave of COVID-19 in China is “essentially over”, Liang Wannian, head of the COVID response group at China’s National Health Commission, said today.
China “withstood the impact and challenge of this wave of covid-19,” the official told a news conference, adding that people have established “a relatively good immune barrier” against the disease.
However, the outbreak “is not completely over,” Liang warned, adding that infections continue to occur “sporadically and localized” across the Asian country’s geography, news portal Sina News reports.
For his part, Commission spokesman Mi Feng said that “the virus continues to mutate” and called for “focus on health protection and prevention against serious illnesses”.
Last week, the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CCP) said the country had won a “decisive victory” against the pandemic since it began dismantling the “zero covid” policy in late November.
At the end of 2022, China began to relax the strict “zero covid” policy which had been in force for almost three years and which consisted of confinements wherever infections were detected, a near total closure of borders and constant PCR tests. on the population.
China recorded a total of 83,150 deaths in hospitals related to covid-19 between December 8, when the start of the dismantling of the “zero covid” policy, and February 9, according to data from the Disease Control Center. diseases in China.
The easing of restrictions resulted in a rapid expansion of the virus throughout the Chinese geography during the months of December and January, months in which scenes of great hospital pressure were recorded and in which some voices called into question. question the veracity of the figures given.
After nearly three years of severe restrictions that eventually crystallized into protests in various parts of the country, China began to dismantle the “zero covid” strategy at the end of 2022, and on January 8, it moved from category A – maximum level of danger – to B the management of the disease, thus marking in practice the end of this policy. EFE
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