China's COVID spike not due to lifting of restrictions, WHO director says - Reuters

GENEVA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - COVID-19 infections were exploding successful China good earlier the government's determination to wantonness its strict "zero-COVID" policy, a World Health Organization manager said connected Wednesday, quashing suggestions that the abrupt reversal caused a spike successful cases.

The comments by the WHO's emergencies manager Mike Ryan came arsenic helium warned of the request to ramp up vaccinations successful the world's No. 2 economy.

Speaking astatine a briefing with media, helium said the microorganism was spreading "intensively" successful the federation agelong earlier the lifting of restrictions.

"There's a communicative astatine the infinitesimal that China lifted the restrictions and each of a abrupt the illness is retired of control," helium said.

"The illness was spreading intensively due to the fact that I judge the power measures successful themselves were not stopping the disease. And I judge China decided strategically that was not the champion enactment anymore."

Beijing started pivoting distant from its signature "zero-COVID" argumentation this period aft protests against the economically damaging curbs championed by President Xi Jinping.

The abrupt loosening of restrictions has sparked agelong queues extracurricular fever clinics successful a worrying motion that a question of infections is building, adjacent though authoritative tallies of caller cases person trended little precocious arsenic authorities eased backmost connected testing.

In its astir caller COVID study for the week to Nov. 27, the WHO said China had reported expanding hospitalisations for 4 consecutive weeks.

"So the situation that China and different countries inactive person is: are the radical that request to beryllium vaccinated, adequately vaccinated, with the close vaccines and the close fig of doses and erstwhile was the past clip those radical had the vaccines," said Ryan.

WESTERN VACCINE

The elation successful China that met the changes successful argumentation allowing radical to unrecorded with the microorganism has rapidly faded amid mounting concerns astir surging infections due to the fact that the colonisation lacks "herd immunity" and has debased vaccination rates among the elderly.

WHO's elder epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said the UN bureau was providing method proposal to China and Ryan said determination were unfastened channels.

Among the archetypal large announced deals successful which a Western drugmaker volition proviso China with COVID therapies, China Meheco Group Co Ltd (600056.SS) said connected Wednesday it would import and administer Pfizer's (PFE.N) oral COVID-19 attraction Paxlovid.

Earlier successful the briefing, WHO main Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said helium was "hopeful" that the pandemic, which has killed much than 6.6 cardinal radical since it emerged successful Wuhan, China 3 years ago, volition nary longer beryllium considered a planetary exigency immoderate clip adjacent year.

Reporting by Emma Farge successful Geneva; Writing by Josephine Mason successful London; Editing by Alison Williams, Raissa Kasolowsky, Alexandra Hudson

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