China's Vice Premier Calls For Optimizing Country's COVID-19 Response Following Protests

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2022) Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called for further optimizing the country's COVID-19 response following protests in its major cities against strict measures under zero-tolerance COVID-19 national policy.

"As the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus weakens, more people are vaccinated and experience in containing the virus is accumulated, the country is facing a new situation and new tasks in epidemic prevention and control," Sun said on Wednesday in a statement published by China's State Council.

The official also called for improving China's response to a changing situation around the pandemic, stressing the importance of optimizing the country's policy on the disease prevention, testing and quarantine measures, as well as immunization of the whole population.

At the same time, Sun noted that Chinese authorities had always "put people's health and safety first" and tackled the pandemic with "a consistent strategy and flexible measures.

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Due to numerous local COVID-19 outbreaks and the deterioration of the epidemiological situation in the country, the Chinese authorities introduced partial lockdowns in some areas, while also forcing their residents to undergo PCR testing on a daily basis. In particular, starting from November 24, restrictive measures have been tightened in a number of China's major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

The new restrictions have led to protests across the country. Public anger erupted after a fire occurred in a residential building in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, killing 10 people on November 24. The tragedy sparked speculations that the deaths could have been avoided if the government had not imposed COVID-19 restrictions on the residential complex.

China has adhered to a zero-tolerance policy toward COVID-19 cases almost from the very beginning of the pandemic. Chinese epidemiological control is one of the strictest in the world.