Beijing, China’s sprawling capital, has recently stated that the city will follow its zero-COVID policies for the next five years. However, it removed the reference to the period recently in the announcement.

The state-run newspaper, Beijing Daily, mentioned the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) secretary of Beijing, Cai Qi said that the city will follow its COVID outbreak control policy for the next five years.

Soon after the article was published and started spreading quickly on social media, the reference for the timespan was removed.

Although, it was not clear why the modification was made in the very first place. It may be possible that five years was a standard reference for planning the next five years, starting on July 1st.

But the fast spreading news and the subsequent withdrawal on social media showcases the concern regarding how long China will be pursuing its COVID-19 policy.

China has been in the pandemic for more than 2 years and has been the major country devoted to eliminating outbreaks of the virus.

The policy implies that China has recorded just 5,226 deaths officially. But the WHO (World Health Organization) has cautioned that the strategy is not feasible.

Cai Qi says that Beijing would be sticking to the unique zero-COVID policy, improving normal PCR testing and asking all the public places to check health kits of people – dynamic QR codes based on travel history and testing, which will further define that a person should be quarantined or lead a normal life.

Beijing has successfully controlled a constant Omicron outbreak, which resulted in the closure of parks, schools, gyms and restaurants. Most facilities are now open, and the primary and secondary pupils returned to work today.

Shanghai is slowly returning to a resemblance of normality after a strict extended lockdown, and some restaurants are also expected to allow customers to return this week.

Source Credit – https://news.sky.com/story/beijing-chief-says-city-to-maintain-zero-covid-policy-for-next-five-years-before-time-reference-removed-12640995