Over the past three years, China has continually refined its COVID-19 strategy in response to the evolving pandemic situation, but putting people and life first
has always been its guiding principle, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC) at a briefing on China's COVID-19 policy held in Beijing on Friday.
The briefing, organized by the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, aimed to explain China's optimization of its COVID-19 response to foreign diplomats.
Diplomats from more than 130 embassies stationed in China, including over 30 ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions, attended the event.
Mi said the current focus of China's COVID-19 response is being shifted from infection prevention to medical treatment, which is scientific, timely and necessary.
"We are improving protection for vulnerable groups and increasing the ability to receive and treat patients," he said.
Jiao Yahui, head of the NHC's Bureau of Medical Administration, said the weakened pathogenicity of the disease, a high vaccination rate and the accumulation of experience has allowed China's epidemic prevention and control policy to enter a new stage.
One of the major developments of the new stage is managing COVID-19 with measures designed to combat Class B infectious diseases, instead of Class A ones, starting Jan. 8, 2023.
Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under the NHC, said China's fine-tuning of its COVID-19 policy was based on the assessment of variant characteristics, the changing pandemic situation at home and abroad, and the experience accumulated in implementing previously modified measures.
Twenty adjusted measures were announced last November, which included loosening quarantine requirements, close contact management, and criteria for COVID-19 risk area categorization.
On Dec. 7, 2022, China released a circular on further optimizing its COVID-19 response, announcing 10 new prevention and control measures.
Liang said the optimized measures would make China's COVID-19 response more targeted and science-based. "The optimization will allow us to make more efficient use of relevant resources, better integrate epidemic prevention and control with socioeconomic development, and better ensure people's daily lives and meet their needs for medical and health services while maximizing the protection of their health and safety and minimizing the impact of the pandemic on socioeconomic development."
In line with the optimized COVID-19 strategy, China has stepped up efforts to prepare its healthcare system, such as setting up more fever clinics and adding hospital beds and ICU beds.
According to Jiao, China has opened nearly 57,000 fever clinics, among which 16,000 are in grade II hospitals or above and 41,000 are in community hospitals.
She said as of Jan. 4, China had 1,310 specialist hospitals and 1,539 upgraded makeshift hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients, with 588,000 and 834,000 beds, including 61,000 and 60,000 ICU beds, respectively.
Regarding the current priorities in China's COVID-19 response, Liang emphasized enhancing medical treatment, with a focus on preventing severe cases and death; ramping up vaccination efforts, especially among the elderly; strengthening the development, production and supply of medicines; and paying close attention to variants of the coronavirus.
While continuously optimizing its COVID-19 response, China has conducted active international exchanges and cooperation, sharing information with and providing assistance to other countries and international organizations within its capacity.
Mi said China has provided hundreds of billions of anti-pandemic supplies to 153 countries and 15 international organizations, supplied 2.2 billion vaccine doses to more than 120 countries and international organizations, sent 37 medical expert teams to 34 countries, and shared experience in pandemic prevention and control with more than 180 countries and regions as well as over 10 international organizations.
Guo Yezhou, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), said the CPC had maintained regular contact with more than 500 political parties and organizations in over 160 countries.
Guo said that entrusted by the CPC Central Committee, the IDCPC has shared updated editions of China's COVID-19 control protocols on time and offered anti-pandemic supplies to political parties in need.
"We will continue to advance international cooperation on COVID-19 and make greater contributions towards building a global community of health for all," he said.
At the briefing, Chinese speakers also answered questions from foreign diplomats on inspection and quarantine policies, virus mutation monitoring, vaccine development and vaccination, the application of traditional Chinese medicine, communication with the World Health Organization, and foreign aid.
