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Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said for two days in a row that the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus has weakened and that prevention and control measures will be optimized. She did not mention that she will continue to adhere to the “clearing” policy.
After widespread anti-blockade demonstrations broke out in China, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said for two consecutive days that the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus had weakened and that prevention and control measures would be optimized. The outside world speculates whether China will change the “clearing” policy to a certain extent.
However, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in China continues to rise, according to data from China’s National Health Commission. On Thursday (December 1), China reported nearly 35,000 confirmed cases, of which asymptomatic infections accounted for the majority, with more than 30,000 cases. Cases are mainly concentrated in Guangdong, Beijing and Chongqing.
Authorities say virus less pathogenic
Recently, high-level Chinese government officials held a symposium on epidemic prevention and control for two consecutive days. Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan stated at both symposiums that the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus has weakened and that prevention and control measures will be optimized.
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Anti-epidemic workers in protective suits prepare to enter a cordoned-off apartment building.
At the symposium on Wednesday (November 30), Sun Chunlan said that the prevention and control policy continues to be optimized, taking small steps without stopping, and constantly improving measures such as diagnosis, testing, admission, and isolation to strengthen the immunity of the entire population, especially the elderly. Vaccination, speed up the preparation of treatment drugs and medical resources.
Chinese official media reports also stated that at the symposium, eight experts including Zhang Boli made speeches and put forward opinions and suggestions for optimizing and perfecting the “Twenty Points” measures.
At the symposium on Thursday (December 1), Sun Chunlan said that after nearly three years of fighting the epidemic, China’s medical and health care and disease control systems have withstood the test, with effective diagnosis and treatment technologies and drugs, and vaccines for the whole population. The complete vaccination rate exceeds 90%, the public’s health awareness and literacy have improved significantly, and the pathogenicity of Omicron virus is weakening, creating conditions for further optimization and improvement of prevention and control measures.
Unlike most of the previous meetings, Sun Chunlan did not mention sticking to the “zeroing out” policy on both occasions, which aroused outside speculation about whether China would change the “zeroing out” policy to a certain extent.
In addition, Chinese state media also issued an article stating that the pathogenicity of Omicron has been greatly reduced.
China relaxes anti-epidemic policy after anti-blockade demonstrations? What do Chinese people think?
The Global Times on Thursday quoted Lan Ke, director of the State Key Laboratory of Virology at Wuhan University, as saying that the research team he led had discovered in in vitro virus infection experiments that the Omicron mutant strain had the ability to infect human lung cells (calu-3) Significantly lower than the original strain, the replication efficiency in cells is more than 10 times lower than the original strain.
Lan Ke said that the experimental results can effectively show that compared with the original strain of the new coronavirus, the pathogenicity and toxicity of the new coronavirus Omicron mutant strain have been greatly reduced. This reminds everyone that there is no need to panic too much about Omicron. For the general population, under the protection of the vaccine, the new coronavirus is not as harmful to the human body as before.
Will the epidemic control be relaxed?
Last week, there were widespread protests in China over its anti-epidemic policies. Chinese state media reported on Thursday that many places in China have successively adjusted prevention and control measures and will orderly restore normal production and living order. Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang, Hohhot and many other places have announced that some areas will resume production and living order, and public transportation and business activities will resume.
Reuters quoted sources as saying that in the future, China will announce the relaxation of quarantine rules and the reduction of large-scale testing, which will be a significant policy shift after widespread protests.
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Chinese state media reported on Thursday that many places in China have successively adjusted prevention and control measures and will orderly restore normal production and living order.
The measures to be announced include reducing mass nucleic acid testing and, under certain conditions, allowing positive cases and close contacts to be isolated at home, the source said.
According to Reuters, Nomura analysts said in a research note: “Sun’s (earlier) speech, combined with Guangzhou’s apparent relaxation of the new crown prevention and control measures yesterday, sent another strong signal that’ The ‘zeroing out’ policy will end in the next few months.”
Can controls be relaxed?
At present, public opinion in mainland China has two views on the prevention and control of the epidemic. One view is that the current COVID-19 virus has weakened, and the control measures should be relaxed immediately so that everyone can go back to work, school, and move around freely. Another point of view is that if it is released, the new crown virus will still have a greater impact on the elderly and children, which will lead to an increase in mortality.
Jin Dongyan, a professor of biochemistry at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong and a virologist, told the BBC that China’s “Twenty Measures” for epidemic prevention were intended to use scientific and precise prevention and control to delete ineffective and ineffective prevention and control measures in the past and move forward. , to prepare for further opening up in the future. Preparatory measures include vaccination and stockpiling of medicines.
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At present, public opinion in mainland China has two views on the prevention and control of the epidemic. One view is that the current COVID-19 virus has weakened, and the control measures should be relaxed immediately so that everyone can go back to work, school, and move around freely.
Jin Dongyan believes that China does not have the conditions to relax. The most important thing is the mental preparation of the people. Many people are very panicked and feel that the relaxation may cause serious consequences. “Even if the virus doesn’t kill people, fear does. People are too scared to have problems. Propaganda must be done well, and we can’t still think that the new crown virus is like a devil.”
Jin Dongyan also pointed out that the government should do a good job in publicity work to let the public realize that the new crown virus is not so terrible now, and while reducing nucleic acid testing, it is necessary to promote rapid antigen testing.
“Withdraw the nucleic acid point and don’t guide everyone to test the antigen. If there is an epidemic, you don’t even know it. Then it will break out,” Jin Dongyan said.