Chinese official defends Covid policy, strict measures to stay

Beijing

CHINA'S Covid tsar reiterated the need to aggressively quash domestic coronavirus infections early to keep the world's second-biggest economy largely intact and the country's people safe.

China has effectively contained local Covid-19 cases and has managed to limit severe infections, Xinhua last Saturday cited Liang Wannian, an epidemiologist who heads the government's team of experts in coronavirus prevention, as saying in an interview.

The nation's strict prevention measures, an approach that is contrary to most other countries, haven't hindered its economy, the report quoted Liang as saying.

He firmly defended the government's Covid-zero policy and called it the most efficient way to protect China's people, according to Xinhua.

Liang's remarks are the latest affirmation of China's adherence to the so-called Covid-zero approach, even as authorities impose escalating restrictions on people's movements to smother the widest outbreak since the virus's initial emergence in Wuhan late 2019.

Liang said the Covid-zero policy does not mean China will not tolerate a single infection but rather it enables early detection and a swift response to prevent a wider spread of the virus.

Tens of thousands of university students are under lockdown on their campuses in Dalian after the northeastern Chinese city became the latest hotspot of infections.

The rising momentum of the current outbreak is slowing and the epidemic is generally "under control", the Dalian city government said in a Weibo post on Sunday.

In Beijing, the local government asked people travelling into the Chinese capital to present a negative Covid test result within 48 hours of entering the city.

Elsewhere, in Shangrao city, the local government issued a statement in response to a complaint from a woman who said she suspected her dog had been culled in her home while she was in hotel quarantine.

Workers disinfecting the area had given the animal "non-hazardous treatment" without informing the owner and had apologised, the government statement showed. BLOOMBERG