The top official in charge of China’s COVID-19 response told health officials Wednesday that the country faced a “new stage and mission” in pandemic controls.
“With the decreasing toxicity of the Omicron variant, the increasing vaccination rate and the accumulating experience of outbreak control and prevention, China’s pandemic containment faces a new stage and mission,” Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said Wednesday, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Her comments came a day after a separate body of top health officials pledged to rectify some approaches to COVID-19 control and said local governments should “respond to and resolve the reasonable demands of the masses” in a timely manner.
Case numbers in the past week have hovered around record highs, with more than 34,000 new infections reported Thursday — posing a steep challenge to efforts to return them to a low level.
As of Nov. 11, 40% of China’s over-80 population had received a booster shot, according to state media, while around two-thirds had received two doses. Meanwhile, several cities have made revisions to their policies, largely around testing and quarantine rules, while some have relaxed lockdown measures.
Health Update
Global COVID-19 cases are at 644,118,669, with 6637,952 deaths.
U.S.'s case count is 98,923,209, with 1,081,147 deaths.
Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center says there have been 653,502,647 vaccine doses administered. It says 267,804,921 have received at least one vaccine, or 81.28% of the U.S. population.
More on China:
Chinese Delegates Meet with Top U.S. Officials in New York
U.S. Relations with China to “Elevate” Following Biden, Jingping’s First Face-to-Face Meeting on Monday
China Looks to Move Away from Strict COVID-19 Restrictions as Imports, Exports Slow
