Tedros made another comment on China’s “Zero-Clearing” policy

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus this week again commented on China’s “Zero-clearing” policy on COVID-19 and briefed on the current situation in the DPRK, following a sharp refuting of his comments on China’s epidemic prevention policy last week.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Tedros called China’s coronavirus policy “unsustainable,” echoing comments he made last week that sparked a strong Chinese reaction. “We now have a better understanding of the virus, we have better ways of responding to it, including vaccines, so that’s why we should be dealing with the virus differently now than at the beginning of the pandemic,” Tedros said this time. “The virus has changed significantly since the novel Coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019,” he added.

China largely stopped the spread of COVID-19 in its early days through a strict lockdown. In the face of the new situation, however, Tedros said that who had repeatedly advised Chinese officials on the Novel Coronavirus containment strategy, but that “it is the policy they choose, and each country decides for itself what policy to adopt”.

Michael Ryan, who emergencies director, said the WHO is aware that China has recently faced epidemic prevention difficulties, while applauding the Chinese government for keeping the number of COVID-19 deaths at a very low level. “We understand why China’s initial response was to impose severe restrictions, but that strategy is not sustainable, and other elements of the strategy need to be used more fully,” Ryan said. Ryan added that “vaccination efforts should continue” and that “suppression strategies alone are not a sustainable way out of the COVID-19 pandemic for any country.”

On the recent COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea, Tedros said the WHO is trying to persuade the country, including Eritrea, to start vaccinating against the virus. He noted that “WHO is deeply concerned about the risk of further spread in North Korea.” Currently, north Koreans have not been vaccinated, and a significant number of people in North Korea have a potentially worsening disease that could seriously endanger their health if they contract COVID-19. Tedros said the WHO had asked North Korea to share more data on the outbreak, but had received no response so far. Who has offered vaccines, medicines, testing and technical support to North Korea and Eritrea, but the leaders of those countries have yet to respond.

Michael Ryan, who’s emergency director, said that in countries like North Korea and Eritrea, any uncontrolled spread of the disease could lead to the emergence of new variants, but that the WHO could do little unless countries accepted help.