By Kargwan Cruz
Investing.com – The lockdowns implemented in China to counter the increase in cases due to the COVID-19 outbreak are “unsustainable” and affecting the economy and society at large, the World Health Organization said today.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said today at a press conference.
“We need to balance control measures with the impact on society, the impact on the economy, and that’s not always an easy calibration process,” added Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergencies director.
Lockdowns in Shanghai and the capital, Beijing, have complicated the recovery of supply chains around the world, making it difficult for supply to catch up with demand faster, causing more inflationary pressures and raising prices, and tensions over a possible downturn in the global economy.
“We have discussed this issue with Chinese experts and indicated that the approach will not be sustainable. The change will be very important,” added Adhanom Ghebreyesus. However, while China’s strategy was expected to wane, it showed signs of intensifying over the weekend.
The embargo measures, which directly affect trade and the global economy, are being implemented in China, although the number of deaths in it is lower than in other regions where this type of quarantine is no longer in place.
China has recorded 15,000 deaths due to Covid since December 2019, when the virus appeared in the city of Wuhan, while in countries such as the United States, the number of deaths reached at least 999,475, and in India 500 thousand.
