US ready to help China on Covid-19 surge if Beijing asks: White House
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People take a Covid-19 PCR test in a street testing booth, in Shanghai, on Dec 14, 2022.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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WASHINGTON - The United States is prepared to help China deal with a surge of Covid-19 infections if Beijing requests assistance, the White House said on Wednesday.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters that China has not requested help at this stage.
“We have made that point that we are prepared to help in any way they might find acceptable. That was true back when the pandemic was raging, and that is true today,” Mr Kirby told reporters.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters earlier this week that US and Chinese officials had discussed Covid-19 and countries’ different response to the pandemic were discussed at US-Chinese meetings, but gave no details.
“I want to give an opportunity for us to be able to have those conversations in sensitive diplomatic channels. And we’ll see what, if anything, comes out of it,” he said.
China Meheco Group said on Wednesday it signed an agreement with US drugmaker Pfizer to import and distribute its oral Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid in mainland China, as the country braces for a surge in patients
Pfizer already signed a deal in August for Chinese drugmaker Zhejiang Huahai to produce Paxlovid in mainland China solely for patients there.
China began shifting away from the “zero Covid” policy just this month,
