BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - China's Covid-19 tsar reiterated the need to aggressively quash domestic coronavirus infections early to keep the world's second-biggest economy largely intact and the country's people safe.

China has effectively contained local Covid cases and has managed to limit severe infections, Xinhua on Saturday (Nov 13) cited Professor Liang Wannian, an epidemiologist who heads the government's team of experts in coronavirus prevention, as saying in an interview.

The nation's strict prevention measures, an approach that is contrary to most other countries, haven't hindered its economy, the report quoted Prof Liang as saying.

He firmly defended the government's Covid-zero policy and called it the most efficient way to protect China's people, according to Xinhua.

Prof Liang's remarks are the latest affirmation of China's adherence to the so-called Covid-zero approach, even as authorities impose escalating restrictions on people's movements to smother the widest outbreak since the virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

Prof Liang said the Covid-zero policy doesn't mean China won't tolerate a single infection but rather it enables early detection and a swift response to prevent a wider spread of the virus.

Tens of thousands of university students are under lockdown on their campuses in Dalian after the north-eastern Chinese city became the latest hotspot of infections.

The local government of Beijing asked people travelling into the Chinese capital to present a negative Covid test result within 48 hours of entering the city.