OUR World Health Organization welcomed on Friday the easing of the strategy against him COVID-19 in Chinaafter angry protests against Beijing’s zero-case policy.

“We are pleased to learn that the Chinese authorities are adapting their existing strategy and are really trying now to expand the measures to combat this virus, which are necessary for life, livelihood and human rights,” the doctor said. Michael Ryan, WHO Emergency Program Manager, during a regular press briefing in Geneva.

“It is very important that governments listen to their citizens when people are suffering. We really want this adaptation to happen and accelerate,” insists the doctor. Ryan.

Chinese anger at the pandemic health hardline culminated over the weekend in a mobilization unprecedented in decades.

Authorities have responded quickly by increasing police presence and stepping up social media monitoring.

At the same time, several cities have begun easing restrictions, such as phasing out mass daily tests, which are one of the tedious pillars of life under a zero-case Covid policy that has been in place for almost three years.

Xi Jinping: Omicron provides ‘more flexibility’

On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has introduced a zero-case Covid policy, said a variant of the Omicron virus that is less lethal allows “greater flexibility” in restrictions.

Dr. Ryan insisted that the unprecedented contagiousness of the Omicron virus variant makes a zero-case Covid policy that could work with earlier variants or even the original strain largely meaningless.

“It is very difficult to stop this and it gets out of hand very quickly,” he said, adding that “we must try to protect the most vulnerable. When we cannot stop a fire, we remove people who are in danger. And the way to get people out of the fire in this case is to get vaccinated.”

For his part, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus once again warned of the continuing danger of a pandemic that has not yet ended. “We are much closer to saying that the emergency phase of the pandemic is over, but we are not there yet,” he said at a press briefing. “Gaps in surveillance, testing, contact tracing and vaccination continue to create ideal conditions for a new and worrisome option to emerge,” he warned.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}