May 12, 2022: -On Tuesday, the head of the World Health Organization said China’s zero-tolerance Covid-19 policy is not sustainable given what is known of the disease. In the government’s rare public comments on handling the virus, the U.N. agency said the government.

“We do not think it is sustainable considering the virus’s behavior,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing.

WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said the impact of a “zero-Covid” policy on human rights needs to be considered alongside the effect on a country’s economy from any Covid approach.

He also noted that China had registered 15,000 deaths since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, a relatively low number compared with 999,475 in the United States and over 500,000 in India.

With that in mind, it is understandable, Ryan said, that one of the most populous countries in the world would want to take strict measures to curb coronavirus contagion.

Still, the zero-Covid policy of China has drawn criticism ranging from scientists to its citizens, which leads to a cycle of lockdowns of many millions of people, anguish, and anger.

The continued outbreaks underscore the difficult way to stop the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

Under zero-Covid, authorities lock down huge population areas to stamp out the viral spread to respond to any coronavirus outbreak, even if some people test positive.

Shanghai’s measures have been stringent, with residents allowed out of compounds only except for some reasons, like a medical emergency. Many are not allowed out of their front doors to mingle with neighbors.

Its quarantine policy has been criticized for separating children from parents and putting asymptomatic cases among those with symptoms and those who have tested positive.