On Jan. 29, as China was still battling the remnants of a wave of COVID-19 infections that emerged after the government dismantled its zero-COVID policy, the national drug regulator said it had given conditional approval to two homegrown antivirals specifically designed for treating the virus.
A day later, a National Health Commission official signaled the battle was drawing to a close, saying that the number of COVID-19 infections had dropped to a "low level."
