Prognosis
Covid Zero Defended in China as Shanghai Cases Top 21,000
- People’s Daily commentary says strategy is best for China
- Shanghai reported more than 21,000 new cases for Thursday
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The Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper defended President Xi Jinping’s stringent virus strategy, saying the Covid Zero policy is essential to saving lives and keeping the economy going, as doubts grow with more than 21,000 new cases recorded in Shanghai alone.
In a front-page commentary, the People’s Daily said that the more transmissible omicron variant “has made it more difficult to find the virus and prevent the epidemic.” It then went on to say that “the more this is the case, the more we should adhere to the general policy of ‘dynamic zero’ without hesitation or wavering,” using Beijing’s wording for the country’s virus approach.