As China casts aside many Covid rules, it is also playing down the threat of the virus. The move could help ease the burden on hospitals but comes with its own risks.
President Xi Jinping has said that China must stick to its strict "dynamic COVID clearance" policy while the global pandemic remains very serious, promising those enduring lockdowns that persistence will win out in the end.
One new study has suggested that origin of the virus might not be in China suggesting antibodies to either the virus or a variant were detected in Italy in 2019. The Italian researchers stressed the findings raised questions about when the virus first emerged rather than where.