EXCLUSIVE: China may announce 10 new steps to mitigate COVID on Wednesday

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China may announce 10 new COVID-19 easing measures as early as Wednesday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, complementing 20 unveiled in November and setting off a wave of nationwide COVID-19 easing steps. .

Three years of zero-tolerance measures, from closing borders to frequent lockdowns, have battered China’s economy, fueling last month the biggest show of public discontent on the mainland since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said management of the disease could be downgraded as soon as January, to the less stringent Category B from the current higher level of Category A for infectious diseases.

The National Health Commission did not immediately respond to a fax from Reuters seeking comment.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chunlan said China was facing a “new situation” with the weakened pathogenicity of the Omicron virus, becoming the first high-ranking official to publicly admit that the pathogenicity of the new variant has diminished.

Since then, many major cities have begun to lift sweeping lockdowns, reduce regular PCR testing and end checks for negative tests in public places, such as subway stations and parks.

The NHS earlier announced the outcome of the new measures on November 11, in an effort to improve management of COVID and strike a better balance between controlling the epidemic and supporting the economy.

Two sources told Reuters last week that China will allow home quarantine for some of those who test positive for the virus, among complementary measures set to be announced.

This would be a major change in strategy from earlier this year, when entire communities were locked down, sometimes for weeks, after just one positive case.

Last month, new and easier quarantine rules only required that affected buildings be closed.

Since January 2020, China has classified COVID-19 as a Class B infectious disease but managed it under Class A protocols, giving local authorities the power to isolate patients and their close contacts and lock down areas.

Category A covers diseases such as bubonic plague and cholera, while Category B includes SARS, AIDS and anthrax, with diseases such as influenza, leprosy, and mumps being in Category C.

But more than 95% of cases in China are asymptomatic and mild, with few deaths. On Sunday, state media Yekai quoted an unidentified expert as saying that in such circumstances, adhering to the Class A strategy is not in line with science.

The expert told Yicai that COVID-19 could be downgraded to Category B or even Category C. Read More

Written by Ryan Wu. Editing by Allison Williams and Clarence Fernandez

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