China demands strict adherence to ‘zero-Covid’ policy after regulations eased

A man has his throat swabbed for a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. The flagship newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party has called for strict adherence to the country’s hardline “zero-COVID” policy (Mark Schiefelbein/AP/PA)

China’s ruling party called for strict adherence to the hard-line “zero-Covid” policy in an apparent attempt to guide public perceptions after regulations were eased slightly in places.

The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, said in an editorial that China must “unswervingly implement” the policy that requires mass obligatory testing and places millions under lockdown to try to eliminate the coronavirus from the nation of 1.4 billion people and the world’s second-largest economy.