China Enters New Phase of COVID Response
From Sunday, China starts managing COVID-19 with measures designed for combating Class B infectious diseases, instead of Class A infectious diseases. In recent months, the country has made an array of active adjustments in its COVID response, ranging from 20 measures in November, 10 new measures in December, changing the Chinese term for COVID-19 from “novel coronavirus pneumonia” to “novel coronavirus infection,” and downgrading COVID-19 management measures. Confronted with epidemic uncertainties, China has always been putting people’s lives and health first, adapting its COVID response in light of the evolving situation. These efforts have bought precious time for a smooth transition in its COVID response.
The year 2022 saw the rapid spread of the highly-contagious Omicron variant. The fast-changing features of the virus and the complicated evolution of epidemic response posed serious challenges for China’s decision-makers, who have been closely following the epidemic situation and putting the people’s lives and health first.
Twenty adjusted measures were announced as early as November 2022.
They included the measure to adjust the categories of COVID-19 risk areas from high, medium, and low, to only high and low, in order to minimise the number of people under quarantine or requiring health monitoring. The circuit breaker mechanism for inbound flights was also canceled. The adjustment was made based on a scientific evaluation of the Omicron variant, which showed that the virus had become less deadly, and the social cost of sustaining the prevailing epidemic control which had rapidly increased. Meanwhile, task forces were dispatched nationwide to supervise epidemic response and assess local situations, and meetings were held to solicit suggestions from leading medical experts and community epidemic control workers. On December 7, China released a circular on further optimising its COVID-19 response, announcing 10 new prevention and control measures to ease restrictions on visits to public venues and travel, and to reduce the scope and frequency of mass nucleic acid testing.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference, held in Beijing in mid-December, demanded efforts to optimise epidemic response based on the prevailing situation and with focus on the elderly and those with underlying diseases.
Under such guiding principles, various sectors of the country, from hospitals to factories, have been mobilised to support continuous adjustment of epidemic control.
Considering factors including the development of the epidemic, the increase in vaccination levels, and extensive epidemic prevention experience, the country entered a new phase of COVID response.