"China makes tweaks, but tough COVID policy still drags on economy"
Reuters interviewed Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang about China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China has been tweaking its stringent COVID curbs but shows no sign of backing off from its "dynamic zero" policy, and has lagged in vaccination efforts that would enable it to do so, casting a heavy shadow over the world's second-largest economy.
The absence of a roadmap out of zero-COVID and expectations that it will persist well into 2023 leaves residents and businesses facing a prolonged period of uncertainty.
Recent scattered COVID flare-ups, the imposition of lockdowns in some cities and the arrival of the highly-contagious BA.5 variant have added to those worries.
Faculty Referenced by this Article
![Robert Kim-Farley](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-11/___Robert_Kim-Farley-sq.jpg?itok=2D4uW5pC)
Robert J. Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, is a Professor-in-Residence with joint appointments in the Departments of Epidemiology and Community Health Sciences
![Dr. Dvora Joseph Davey](https://ph.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-09/Dvora%20Joseph%20Davey%20headshot%20Feb%202019.jpg?itok=F2RZIQRF)
Dr. Joseph Davey is an infectious disease epidemiologist with over 20 years' experience leading research on HIV/STI services for women and children.