{"id":127145,"date":"2022-05-10T16:48:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T16:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=127145"},"modified":"2022-05-10T16:48:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T16:48:37","slug":"dropping-zero-covid-policy-in-china-without-safeguards-risks-1-5m-lives-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/dropping-zero-covid-policy-in-china-without-safeguards-risks-1-5m-lives-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Dropping zero-COVID policy in China without safeguards risks 1.5m lives – study"},"content":{"rendered":"

SHANGHAI\/LONDON (Reuters) – China risks just over 1.5 million COVID deaths if it drops its tough zero-COVID policy without any safeguards such as ramping up vaccination and access to treatments, according to new modelling by scientists in China and the United States.<\/p>

A delivery worker standing on a scooter looks over barriers in a closed residential area during lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Shanghai, China, May 9, 2022. REUTERS\/Aly Song<\/figcaption>

The warning follows several recently published reports from senior health advisers in China who said the zero-COVID approach remains essential to defeating the pandemic and buying time for mitigating measures.<\/p>\n

China has stuck with its zero-COVID strategy even as most other countries that once championed the policy shifted towards living with the virus in order to reopen their economies and restore personal freedoms.<\/p>\n

Under zero-COVID, authorities lock down large population areas to stamp out viral spread in response to any coronavirus outbreak, even if just a small number of people test positive.<\/p>\n

Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, has been locked down for nearly six weeks as it battles China\u2019s biggest coronavirus outbreak yet, with anger among residents and economic pressure mounting. [L2N2WL041]<\/p>\n

But the new research published in Nature Medicine suggests that while dropping \u201czero-COVID\u201d completely could be risky for public health, the impact could be greatly mitigated by focusing on other interventions like vaccinating the elderly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of immunity induced by the March 2022 vaccination campaign would be insufficient to prevent an Omicron wave,\u201d the authors wrote.<\/p>\n

They forecast that peak demand on intensive care would be more than 15 times capacity, causing roughly 1.5 million deaths, based on worldwide data gathered about the variant\u2019s severity.<\/p>\n

However, the researchers said the death toll could be much reduced if there was a focus on vaccination – only about 50% of over-80s in China are vaccinated – as well as providing antivirals while maintaining some restrictions.<\/p>\n

The lead authors of the paper are from Fudan University in China, backed up by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe availability of vaccines and antiviral drugs offer an opportunity to move away from zero-COVID. I can\u2019t think what there is now to wait for,\u201d said Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at Hong Kong University familiar with the study.<\/p>\n

He cautioned that the transition must be gradual.<\/p>\n

But government health advisers in China are sticking to zero-COVID for now.<\/p>\n

In correspondence published by the peer-reviewed medical journal the Lancet last Friday, a team of Shanghai medical experts said the city\u2019s vital role in the national Chinese economy made lockdown there unavoidable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe spill-out of virus to other places… could have unimaginably severe consequences,\u201d said the team, which includes Zhang Wenhong, an adviser to authorities in Shanghai on treatment for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Shanghai\u2019s \u201cdynamic\u201d zero-COVID policies would \u201covercome weak links in the immunological barrier in populations across the country\u201d, they said, pointing out that around 49 million Chinese aged 60 and over remained unvaccinated.<\/p>\n

Zero-COVID was still required to prevent a \u201crun\u201d on China\u2019s health resources, according to a separate commentary published in the official journal of China\u2019s Disease Prevention and Control Center and co-written by senior government health adviser Liang Wannian.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dynamic COVID-zero strategies adopted by China have won a precious time window for the future,\u201d it said, adding that the country must \u201cseize the opportunity\u201d to develop more drugs and vaccines.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SHANGHAI\/LONDON (Reuters) – China risks just over 1.5 million COVID deaths if it drops its tough zero-COVID policy without any safeguards such as ramping up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":127144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDropping zero-COVID policy in China without safeguards risks 1.5m lives - study - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/dropping-zero-covid-policy-in-china-without-safeguards-risks-1-5m-lives-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dropping zero-COVID policy in China without safeguards risks 1.5m lives - study - Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SHANGHAI\/LONDON (Reuters) – China risks just over 1.5 million COVID deaths if it drops its tough zero-COVID policy without any safeguards such as ramping up [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/dropping-zero-covid-policy-in-china-without-safeguards-risks-1-5m-lives-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-10T16:48:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Dropping-zero-COVID-policy-in-China-without-safeguards-risks-1.5m-lives-study.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/dropping-zero-covid-policy-in-china-without-safeguards-risks-1-5m-lives-study\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/dropping-zero-covid-policy-in-china-without-safeguards-risks-1-5m-lives-study\/\",\"name\":\"Dropping zero-COVID policy in China without safeguards risks 1.5m lives - 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