China’s top political leaders, including President Xi Jinping, have endorsed the restrictive ‘COVID Zero’ strategy to curb rising infections in the Asian giant, despite the controversy that has surrounded the policy since it was introduced immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic.
At a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, chaired by Xi himself, the country’s political leadership has called for «more decisive» measures to curb the spread of the virus, in the context of major outbreaks in recent weeks.
These demands come at a time when the health situation «remains serious», but there is also a pressing need to return to normality and resume industrial production, according to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.
The Chinese Communist Party leadership has thus nipped in the bud speculation about abandoning the ‘COVID Zero’ strategy or any easing of restrictions. In recent days some of the country’s major cities, such as the capital, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chongqing, have confirmed rising infection rates.
These are the first public statements on the coronavirus from the agency since the Communist Party completed its 20th National Congress on October 22, during which it elected a new composition of the Central Committee and its highest leadership bodies.
China has experienced in recent weeks strong outbreaks in several parts of the country, a situation that, according to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, could worsen «influenced by the mutation of the virus and the climatic factors of winter and spring».
«The situation of prevention and control remains serious. We must maintain strategic determination and do a good job in preventing and controlling the epidemic in a scientific and precise manner,» the agency said in a statement published by the Chinese agency.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the health authorities of the Asian giant have recorded just over one million cases and 5,226 deaths, thanks in part to the strict restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the disease.
