Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, defended the implementation of said policy at a press conference, assuring that it does not pursue the absence of infections but rather control the sources of contagion as soon as possible and at the lowest social cost.

He stressed that the objective is “to protect the lives and health of the people, as well as maintain the order of life to its maximum extent.”

Zhao said that China hopes that the international community gathers information about the facts and that no more irresponsible comments are made on the issue, in response to recent statements made by the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who considered “unsustainable” China’s Covid-19 policy.

According to Ghebreyesus, he discussed with Chinese experts the need to change the focus of his health policy in light of the extensive knowledge about how the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus behaves, evolves and can be dealt with.

Meanwhile, Mike Ryan, director of Emergencies at the WHO, urged all countries to guarantee a balance in control measures, the impact on society and the economy, and respect for human and individual rights.

The Chinese strategy involves the massive application of PCR tests, confinements in communities and even entire cities, and centralized quarantines in the face of the emergence of Covid-19 cases.

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