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Chinese officials on Wednesday admitted some “zero-Covid” lockdown policies have been “overly strict,” a very mild way of describing a policy that locked millions of people in their homes and seriously disrupted the national economy.
There was no sign that dictator Xi Jinping intends to loosen these policies or admit any mistakes on his part as a “twindemic” of Chinese coronavirus and influenza looms.
China’s state-run Global Times quoted the National Health Commission (NHC) admitting on a Wednesday conference call that zero-Covid might have gone a bit overboard, but then said, “multiple regions in the country have vowed in recent days to implement precise epidemic controls,” so Chinese citizens can only wait to discover if they will be trapped in another round of brutal lockdowns.
The NHC seemed acutely conscious of rising public discontent:
The NHC said on Wednesday at a meeting that epidemic prevention and control must proceed prudently and delicately, while stressing that China is unswervingly adhering to the dynamic zero-COVID strategy by preventing the import of cases and internal rebounds.
Amid the NHC’s call, multiple regions in China, including North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Central China’s Henan Province and Northwest China’s Gansu Province, have vowed to put more emphasis on precise epidemic prevention.
