THE Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee met Thursday to hear a report on COVID-19 response, discuss and arrange 20 measures to further optimize epidemic prevention and control work.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting and delivered an important speech.

The meeting called for more resolute and decisive measures to curb the spread of outbreaks as soon as possible and restore normal production and normal life as soon as possible, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

The standing committee reaffirmed the dynamic zero COVID-19 policy, saying safeguarding people’s lives should be the priority. It called for more targeted measures to maximize the protection of people’s lives and health while minimizing the pandemic’s impact on economic and social development.

Swift actions are needed to bring any outbreak under early control. More resolute, decisive actions should be taken to stem out outbreaks in major areas and to restore normal life and production as soon as possible, according to the Xinhua report.

More targeted measures should be taken in quarantines, transfer of patients, nucleic acid tests, people’s travel, medical care, vaccination and the lifting of travel restrictions on people stranded in epidemic-affected areas.

The meeting urged greater efforts in the research and development of vaccines and medicines. It said there should be no letup in necessary pandemic prevention and control measures while opposing excessive restrictions and one-size-fits-all practices. The supply of daily necessities and medical care should be guaranteed when tackling outbreaks, the report said.

On Thursday afternoon, Xinhua released another report titled “Chinese authorities further optimize anti-COVID response,” saying navigating a complex anti-epidemic situation, relevant authorities across China have invested further efforts to optimize their COVID-19 response.

As a result of the country’s anti-epidemic endeavor, people’s health and safety have been protected to the greatest extent possible, and notable achievements have been made in coordinating the COVID-19 response with economic and social development, it said.

But COVID-19 control in China still faces a complex situation, with a notable resurgence of regional outbreaks and cluster infections reported in several cities.

Meanwhile, it has been observed that some regional authorities have adopted simplistic measures to contain the virus, such as implementing undifferentiated quarantine policies and expanding travel restrictions, Tuo Jia, an official with the national administration of disease prevention and control, told a press conference last week.

Such behavior constitutes pointless formalities and bureaucratism, and goes against the requirements of scientific and targeted epidemic control and coordinating the COVID-19 response with economic and social development, said Tuo.

To remedy the issue, the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 has briefed on acts that took an oversimplified, one-size-fits-all approach or excessive measures in COVID-19 prevention and control.(SD Xinhua)