What’s new: Prominent infectious disease expert Zhong Nanshan defended China’s “zero tolerance” policy in a state media interview, saying it is not too costly when it comes to sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks, and in fact costs less than treating patients after they’ve been infected.
The global mortality rate for people infected with Covid-19, which spreads fast and continues to mutate, is currently around 2%, Zhong said in the Monday interview with state-run broadcaster CGTN, noting that “we cannot tolerate such a high mortality rate.”
Pointing to countries that had relaxed their policies amid a drop in Covid-19 cases only to go on to later suffer large numbers of infections, the epidemiologist said that such an approach comes at a high cost, and resurgences take a greater psychological toll on residents and society as a whole.
The background: Since early last year China has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy for Covid-19, under which authorities have imposed strict border controls, travel restrictions, lockdowns and at times have required mass testing when new Covid-19 cases emerge.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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