Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that teams on the Chinese mainland are looking to improve COVID-19 policies to enable international exchanges.
Wu, speaking in a press conference on Tuesday, said that they are looking at an approach to the virus that is neither zero-COVID nor laissez-faire.
China’s current zero-COVID policy has enabled the country to largely contain the spread of the virus on the mainland, but it has led to strict restrictions on international travel.
Wu went on to state that the new approach will put “people first and life first,” but also contain the pandemic.
Should the team find a suitable approach that balances the control of the disease and allows for international exchanges, it might be possible that international travel is back on the cards sooner than we thought.
Wu also claimed that he was cautiously optimistic that the pandemic will end this year.
However, since China closed its borders many experts have come out with claims as to when international travel will open up again.
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Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the disease control bureau of the National Health Commission, said in a separate press conference that COVID-19 is still spreading post-Chinese New Year.
Recently, the mainland has seen a spate of cases, including in Wuhan where the outbreak was first discovered.
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[Cover image via Global Times]
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