Editorial: People’s Livelihood Must Be Guaranteed Amid Fight Against Covid-19

Regions like Shanghai and Jilin province have recently reported large-scale resurgences of the Omicron variant. Shanghai has conducted mass nucleic acid testing and imposed a lockdown in two phases on both sides of the Huangpu River, facing an unprecedented challenge from Covid-19 as China’s largest city. At the same time, residents in Shanghai and Changchun have found it difficult to buy food and get medical treatment. Tragically, some residents and medical personnel have lost their lives due to lack of timely medical treatment. All these have emphasized the importance and urgency of guaranteeing people’s livelihood during the fight against Covid-19. Government officials in both cities have apologized and said that they would accept the criticism and work harder to combat the pandemic. Guaranteeing people’s livelihood amid the fight against Covid-19 should be based on science, the market and information transparency. The universal phenomena such as putting too much stock in the implementation process and a “one-size-fits-all” approach during pandemic prevention and control must be rectified.