LONDON: The head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday China’s zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy is not sustainable given what is now known of the virus, in rare public comments by the U.N. agency on a government’s handling of the pandemic.

“We don’t think that it is sustainable considering thebehaviour of the virus and what we now anticipate in thefuture,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing.

“We have discussed this issue with Chinese experts. And weindicated that the approach will not be sustainable… I think ashift would be very important.”

He said increased knowledge about the virus and better toolsto combat it also suggested it was time for a change ofstrategy.

Speaking after Tedros, WHO emergencies director Mike Ryansaid the impact of a “zero-COVID” policy on human rights alsoneeds to be taken into consideration.

China reports 24,268 new COVID cases on April 14 vs 29,411 a day earlier

“We have always said as WHO that we need to balance thecontrol measures against the impact they have on society, theimpact they have on the economy, and that’s not always an easy calibration,” said Ryan.

He also noted that China has registered 15,000 deaths sincethe virus first emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019 - arelatively low number compared with nearly 1 million in theUnited States, more than 664,000 in Brazil and over 524,000 inIndia.

With that in mind, it is understandable, Ryan said, that theworld’s most populous country would want to take tough measures to curb coronavirus contagion.

Still, China’s zero-COVID policy has drawn criticism rangingfrom scientists to its own citizens, leading to a cycle oflockdowns of many millions of people, anguish and anger. Most other nations that shared its approach initially have now at least begun a transition to strategies to live with the virus.

The continued outbreaks also underscore how difficult it isto stop the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Under zero-COVID, authorities lock down large populationareas to stamp out viral spread in response to any coronavirus outbreak, even if just a small number of people test positive.

Shanghai’s measures have been particularly strict, withresidents allowed out of compounds only for exceptional reasons, such as a medical emergency. Many are not even allowed out of their front doors to mingle with neighbours.

Its quarantine policy has also been criticised forseparating children from parents and putting asymptomatic cases among those with symptoms.