China’s top leaders said Thursday that the country has achieved “decisive victory” over COVID as its death toll drops sharply, reports Bloomberg. A meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee said the Communist Party’s judgment, policies and adjustment of COVID controls since November have been “totally right,” according to China’s state television. The public would agree with the conclusion, the report said.
China’s COVID situation is improving while the global pandemic remains, according to the report. The Politburo Standing Committee also urged officials to strengthen monitoring of domestic outbreaks and accelerate vaccination among the elderly.
After meticulously tracking cases for most of the pandemic, China abruptly abandoned its signature zero-tolerance policy at the end of 2022, halting mass testing, quarantines and lockdowns, and narrowing its definition of what constitutes a COVID death.