Covid-19 Protests: China Entering ‘New Stage And Mission’ For Pandemic Controls, Says Official

<p>After China witnessed massive protests over its zero-Covid strategy, a senior official in charge of its Covid response on Wednesday said the country is entering a &ldquo;new stage and mission&rdquo; in pandemic controls.</p> <p>The comments potentially indicate its adjustment to Beijing&rsquo;s &ldquo;zero-Covid&rdquo; strategy which has sparked nationwide protests, reported CNN citing news agency Xinhua.</p> <p>&ldquo;With the decreasing toxicity of the <a title="Omicron" href="https://ift.tt/IN4AFzn" data-type="interlinkingkeywords">Omicron</a> variant, the increasing vaccination rate and the accumulating experience of outbreak control and prevention, China&rsquo;s pandemic containment faces new stage and mission,&rdquo; the report quoted China&rsquo;s vice premier Sun Chunlan citing Xinhua.</p> <p><strong>ALSO READ: <a href="https://ift.tt/PAvEymt We Are Prime Ministers': Jacinda Adern, Sanna Marin Destroy Reporter's Sexist Question -- Watch (abplive.com)</a></strong></p> <p>However, the official didn&rsquo;t make any comments on the country's zero-Covid policy.&nbsp; The comments come amid China&rsquo;s National Health Commission (NHC) announcing the rectification of current pandemic measures saying local governments should &ldquo;respond to and resolve the reasonable demands of the masses&rdquo; in a timely manner.</p> <p>In a meeting with the NHC on Wednesday, Sun stressed adopting a &ldquo;human-centered approach&rdquo;, and China should enhance its &ldquo;diagnosis, testing, treatment and quarantine&rdquo; measures, continue boosting vaccination rates &ndash; especially among the elderly people &ndash; and beef up medication and medical resources.</p> <p>The change in China&rsquo;s stance comes as officials in Guangzhou hinted at easing Covid-19 containment measures after the southern part of the city witnessed violence with protesters clashing with police on Tuesday evening.</p> <p>Zhang Yi, a spokesperson of Guangzhou&rsquo;s health commission informed that the city has adjusted the designation of risk levels and pandemic containment measures &ndash; to a varying extent &ndash; in all its eleven districts.</p> <p>Lockdowns in four districts &ndash; namely Liwan, Baiyun, Tianhe and Haizhu &ndash; have been lifted, while lockdowns remain in areas designated as high-risk.</p> <p>Guangzhou will stop sending all close contacts of Covid-19 patients to central quarantine facilities and allow some to isolate at home if they meet the requirements, Zhang said.</p>