China blasts WHO chief Tedros' Covid Zero criticism as 'irresponsible'

Security guards man a residential area under a Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown in Beijing on May 11, 2022. - AFP

BEIJING (Bloomberg): China denounced the World Health Organization chief’s criticism of its zero-tolerance Covid strategy, defending a policy that has left it increasingly isolated on the world stage and under pressure from its own citizens at home.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian hailed the merits of China’s lockdown-dependent Covid Zero approach Wednesday (May 11) in response to criticism from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Tedros had argued a day earlier that the strategy was no longer sustainable, saying that a "shift would be very important.”