President Xi Jinping remarked on Saturday that the "light of hope is right in front of us" as China deals with an influx of Covid-19 cases following the abrupt removal of restrictions, news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Three years after the coronavirus first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Beijing began abandoning its "zero-Covid" containment policy this month.
Since then, Chinese hospitals have been overwhelmed with largely elderly patients, crematoriums have been overcrowded, and many pharmacies have run out of fever drugs.
"Epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase... Everyone is working resolutely, and the light of hope is right in front of us," Xi stated in a New Year's Eve broadcast address, as per the report.
The Chinese president made his second comment on the outbreak this week. He asked for actions to "effectively protect people's lives" on Monday.
China reported more than 7,000 new infections and one death due to Covid in its 1.4 billion-person population on Saturday, but the data appear to be out of sync with the reality on the ground.
After three years of frustration, authorities have announced that mandatory quarantine on arrival for persons entering China will be lifted on January 8th, allowing Chinese citizens to travel overseas, according to the report.
In reaction, several European countries, including France and Italy, as well as the United States and Japan, have announced that travellers travelling from China will be subjected to negative screening.
The precautionary precautions adopted by various states are "understandable" in light of Beijing's lack of information about the outbreak, according to World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
On Friday evening, the WHO reported that it had met with Chinese officials to discuss the outbreak.
"The WHO has requested that precise and real-time data on the epidemiological situation be shared on a frequent basis, including more genetic sequencing data, data on disease impact, including hospitalisations, critical care unit admissions, and deaths," the UN health agency said in a statement.
Since 2020, the "zero-Covid" policy has mainly safeguarded the Chinese populace by mass testing, tight movement surveillance, and quarantine restrictions.
However, the approach cut the country off from the rest of the world and caused significant damage to the world's second-largest economy.
The draconian measures triggered widespread protests last month, in a rare show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party.
(With Inputs From Agencies)