No relaxation in the face of the virus. Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered on Thursday to continue the zero Covid-19 policy, as China faces its worst epidemic upsurge since the first wave of 2020.
Disease outbreak
While voices have pleaded in recent months for a relaxation of restrictions, the communist power is celebrating its health policy as proof of the superiority of its political system, in comparison with the epidemic outbreak in the rest of the world. As soon as a case of Covid-19 appears, the authorities impose strict containment measures and carry out massive and repeated screenings of the population.
Zero Covid-19 policy
The rigid zero Covid-19 policy has allowed China to limit its death toll to less than 5,000 since the start of the pandemic. But the Omicron strain is at the origin of an epidemic resurgence, which concerned Thursday 2,432 people in the last 24 hours, according to figures from the Ministry of Health, a high toll for China. “We must always put people and their lives first, stick […] to the policy of zero Covid, and to stem the spread of the epidemic as quickly as possible,” President Xi Jinping ordered on Thursday, according to comments reported by public television.