China to stick with zero-Covid policy, but rules may be refined

China’s strict Covid-19 control measures are unlikely to be eased in the near future, but will be fine-tuned to minimize disruptions to economic growth, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in his report at the opening session of this year's National People's Congress (NPC). He added that China would continue with “routine” epidemic control measures, including preventing both outbreaks introduced from overseas and any resurgence in local cases. This indicates that strict epidemic control measures at the border and within the country will continue. Li’s remarks are the highest-level confirmation from Beijing that the zero-Covid response, introduced at the early stages of the pandemic two years ago, will continue, the South China Morning Post reports. China will respond to Covid-19 and pursue economic and social development in a “well-coordinated way”, ensuring both development and security, Premier Li said.

China is still battling sporadic outbreaks with daily new cases exceeding 100 in the past few days. On March 7, China reported 214 domestically transmitted cases. Ten cases were previously reported in Shanghai, including seven asymptomatic ones. The 10 new cases include nine staffers working at a central quarantine site in downtown Xuhui district for people from overseas. The 10th is an employee of Pudong international airport. There are now four medium-risk areas in Shanghai. A total of 401 people who had close links with the new cases have been put under quarantine and medical observation, but all have tested negative. Some local residential communities have been put under quarantine for Covid-19 screening. All the local cases reported since March 1 have been confirmed as the highly-contagious Omicron variant. In Laixi, a county-level city under the administration of Qingdao in Shandong province, 118 cases were detected among students and teachers of a middle school and their close contacts.

Last month, Chief Epidemiologist Wu Zunyong of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said several teams were studying to improve the current response, as the stringent measures had left private companies and the self-employed struggling to survive. Premier Li acknowledged that the service industry, including catering, hotels, retail and tourism, had been dealt serious blows by sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks in the country, but said it was the “timely and effective” handling of the outbreaks that had ensured public safety and health, and maintained the normal order of production and life last year.

“Epidemic control measures will be constantly refined. Occurrences of local cases must be handled in a scientific and targeted manner, and the normal order of work and life must be ensured,” Premier Li said. He added that the capacity to monitor major epidemics, as well as early warning, contract tracing and epidemiological investigation, would be improved. The “one size fits all” approach will be abandoned, and local governments will not be allowed to impose unnecessary citywide or districtwide lockdowns, public transport suspensions, or epidemic control measures in the services sector not approved by the central health authorities. China would also step up research into the prevention of coronavirus variants and accelerate research and development of Covid-19 vaccines and effective therapeutics, Li pledged. Five Covid-19 vaccines have so far been approved in China, the latest being a recombinant protein version by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical.

Premier Li did not mention Hong Kong’s spiraling Covid-19 crisis in his work report, but the city’s experience could convince Chinese leaders that its zero-Covid strategy should not be easily abandoned. There was panic buying by Hong Kong consumers due to concerns over Covid-related supply shortages, but Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau assured that local supermarkets have sufficient supplies. ParknShop and Watsons, the city’s two retail chains, announced restrictions on the purchase of certain items like medicines, rice and toilet paper, but there is a steady supply of most goods.

A makeshift hospital in Tsing Yi, Hong Kong, for Covid-19 patients began operation after it was handed over to the Hong Kong government. The hospital, built in a week, has 3,900 isolation beds for patients with mild symptoms or who are asymptomatic. It is the first of nine such facilities to be built with the help of the central government as the city battles its fifth coronavirus outbreak. It will help the city separate infected people from healthy residents and lower the risk of transmission. The temporary hospital is made of prefabricated containers, with three beds per unit. The government also announced it will open five more clinics to treat Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms, in addition to the nine clinics currently in operation. The Hong Kong government will hire 1,000 caregivers from the mainland to work at nursing homes hit hard by infections.

China is the world’s largest provider of Covid-19 vaccines, Zhang Yesui, Spokesman for the fifth session of the 13th National People’s Congress, said at a news briefing. In total, China has provided over 2.1 billion doses to more than 120 countries and international organizations, accounting for one-third of the total number of vaccines administered outside China, and the majority have been provided to developing countries, Zhang said. “China’s vaccines have played an important role in helping many developing countries to build immunity barriers, resume normal lives and boost their capacity, confidence and determination to beat the pandemic,” he said. Zhang added that the country will continue to prioritize developing countries and make them major partners in vaccine cooperation. Zhang added that the repercussions of China's disease control measures are limited and short-term, “and they are totally worth it so as to safeguard the health of the people.”

This overview is based on reports by the Guardian, China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.