Chinese study assures that “zero COVID” saves up to 1.5 million lives | WORLD

A study prepared by Fudan University -in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai- and published by the scientific journal Nature Medicine estimates that the “zero COVID” policy implemented by China is avoiding up to 1.5 million deaths, reports the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post.

The publication carries out a projection of what would have happened since March in the event that an omicron outbreak with 20 initial cases and without surveillance was not controlled with the harsh restrictions imposed by the Chinese Government in cities such as Shanghai (this ), which has been confined for almost two months.

An uncontrolled wave of infections would cause a “tsunami of COVID-19 cases” that would cause up to 112 million symptomatic infections and 1.55 million deaths, according to the study, carried out by Chinese experts and supervised by experts from Indiana University and the US National Institutes of Health.

The scientists signing the publication also predicted a collapse of the national health system taking into account these figures, the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines and the fact that, in mid-March, there were still 52 million people over 60 years of age without having received a complete vaccination schedule.

But, in turn, the study suggests measures that, if carried out, could equate COVID-19 to a seasonal flu in China, with a death toll of around 88,000, provided that the level of vaccinations of people elderly reaches 97% and that half of the symptomatic cases are treated with antiviral therapies.

The Chinese authorities have defended the effectiveness of their “zero COVID” strategy, which until now has allowed them to bend other variants with measures such as confinements and massive tests in the event of any outbreak, as well as with the practically total closure of the borders for more two years old

In recent days, and as a result of the growing discomfort due to the harshness of the measures in areas such as, precisely, Shanghai, the Politburo – the leadership body of the Communist Party (PCCh) – insisted not only on continuing with the aforementioned strategy but also on “ fight” against those who question or criticize it.

In fact, today, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was censored on Chinese social networks after assuring that the Asian country’s “zero COVID” policy “is not sustainable”.

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