Xi Jinping requires swift containment of latest COVID-19 outbreaks

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday urged swift containment of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Xi made the remarks while presiding over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Since the COVID-19 response measures were enforced on a regular basis, China has effectively responded to regional cluster infections and provided the best protection for people’s lives and health as it can, Xi said.

The country’s economic performance and COVID-19 response, which both led the world, fully demonstrated its strength and capacity in epidemic prevention and control. It also showed the advantages of the CPC’s leadership and the socialist system, he noted.

“Victory comes from perseverance,” Xi said. He asked all departments and regions to prepare for complexity and difficulty in COVID-19 response at home and abroad.

The people should always come first, said Xi. He stressed science-based and accurate measures and the adherence to the dynamic zero-COVID policy to curb the spread of the epidemic soonest.

He called for further scientific and technological innovation in research and development of vaccines, rapid testing reagents, and medicines to make the prevention and control more targeted.

More effective measures should be taken to achieve maximum effect in prevention and control with minimum cost, and to reduce the epidemic’s impact on socioeconomic development as much as possible, said Xi.

Following the recent covid-19 outbreak, China has shortened mandatory quarantine time for recovered COVID-19 patients to save much-needed medical resources for severe cases, a renowned infectious diseases expert told a press conference organized by the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality on Thursday.

In a recent adjustment to its anti-pandemic plan, China augmented its COVID-19 testing capability by approving rapid self-test kits to curb outbreaks in a faster and scientific manner as daily local cases in the country topped 1,000 last week.

Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Diseases with the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, said the plan has been revised to optimize medical resources management. He said the country aims to employ “three weapons” to tackle COVID-19: high vaccination rate, effective medications to treat the virus, and abundant medical resources for emergencies.

China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday released the revised plan, which calls for only quarantining mild cases instead of admitting them in the hospital unless the conditions worsen.

Recovered patients are now only required to monitor their health in a seven-day home quarantine besides taking a COVID-19 test after leaving hospital, Zhang said. Previously, a 14-day quarantine at designated places was mandatory.

Given the measures, the average hospital stay in Shanghai is expected to be shortened to 10 days from 15, according to Zhang.

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