প্রকাশ: 11/05/2022
The head of the
World Health Organization said on Tuesday China's zero-tolerance Covid-19
policy is not sustainable given what is now known of the virus, in rare public
comments by the U.N. agency on a government's handling of the pandemic.
"We don't think that it is sustainable considering the
behaviour of the virus and what we now anticipate in the future," WHO
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing.
"We have discussed this issue with Chinese experts. And
we indicated that the approach will not be sustainable... I think a shift would
be very important."
He said increased knowledge about the virus and better tools
to combat it also suggested it was time for a change of strategy.
The comments come after China's leaders have repeated their
resolve to battle the virus with tough measures and threatened action against
critics at home even as strict and prolonged lockdowns exact a heavy toll on
the world's second-largest economy.
Speaking after Tedros, WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan
said the impact of a "zero-Covid" policy on human rights also needs
to be taken into consideration.
"We have always said as WHO that we need to balance the
control measures against the impact they have on society, the impact they have
on the economy, and that's not always an easy calibration," said Ryan.
He also noted that China has registered 15,000 deaths since
the virus first emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019 - a relatively low
number compared with nearly 1 million in the United States, more than 664,000
in Brazil and over 524,000 in India.
With that in mind, it is understandable, Ryan said, that the
world's most populous country would want to take tough measures to curb
coronavirus contagion.
Still, China's zero-Covid policy has drawn criticism ranging
from scientists to its own citizens, leading to a cycle of lockdowns of many
millions of people, anguish and anger. Most other nations that shared its
approach initially have now at least begun a transition to strategies to live
with the virus.
The continued outbreaks also underscore how difficult it is
to stop the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Under zero-Covid, authorities lock down large population
areas to stamp out viral spread in response to any coronavirus outbreak, even
if just a small number of people test positive.
Shanghai's measures have been particularly strict, with residents
allowed out of compounds only for exceptional reasons, such as a medical
emergency. Many are not even allowed out of their front doors to mingle with
neighbours.
Its quarantine policy has also been criticised for
separating children from parents and putting asymptomatic cases among those
with symptoms.
Highlighting the far-reaching impact of prolonged lockdowns
on global manufacturing and supplies of critical goods, General
Electric's healthcare unit outlined on Tuesday the drastic measures it has
taken to deal with shortages of dye used for medical scans and tests in the
United States caused by the suspension of its Shanghai factory.
- REUTERS
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