China's rewarding of heroes who made significant contributions to the country's hard-fought war against COVID-19 on Tuesday signals a new phase in the victory of Beijing's battle against the virus, and is also a recognition of every Chinese person's efforts in the past nine months, said China's top epidemiologists.

Step by step, China has managed to bring the risk of the deadly virus under control on its soil, and one virus-attacked city after another has returned to normalcy after efforts made from top down. China's achievement in the virus battle has been for the world to see, they said. 

China will hold a ceremony to honor individuals and groups who fought bravely in the country's battle against the COVID-19 epidemic on Tuesday morning in Beijing. During the event, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to confer the Medal of the Republic and other honorary titles to heroes who made outstanding contributions to the fight.

The ceremony is a recognition of the effort of every Chinese in the battle against the novel coronavirus as well as the fact that China has achieved a phased victory, Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), told the Global Times on Sunday.

"This fight against COVID-19 depicts the unity of the Chinese people when facing difficulties. Below the surface of those who are about to be awarded, there are many individuals and organizations who have shown dedication in labs, patient beds and in fighting the virus day and night without being noticed by media and others." 

While the overseas epidemic is not over, China has been able to win a phased victory thanks to every Chinese citizen who followed the scientific guidance of the Chinese government, and because the Chinese government listens to and respects the voices of science, experts said.  

But the fight against the novel coronavirus is not over while the virus continues to wreak havoc outside China and foreign nations have not managed to get through the epidemic, Zeng said, calling on Chinese residents to remain vigilant to the virus in their daily lives and prepare for a long-term battle.

Globally, COVID-19 cases across the world have gone up to more than 26 million with the most cases coming from the US followed by Brazil and India, Johns Hopkins University's tally suggested on Sunday. 

But US President Donald Trump, leader of the country most ravaged by the virus, is accused by its people of doing very little to contain the virus, as he has largely engaged in smearing China in an attempt to divert public attention as the election approaches. 

His latest "China-bashing" move was asserting on Wednesday that thousands more people have died from the coronavirus in China than the Beijing government has acknowledged, without citing any evidence.

Trump now is troubled by the upcoming election, domestic riots and economic decline so he has veered back to baseless accusations against China's virus battle trying to divert attention from the domestic virus control failure, said Wang Guangfa, a leading Chinese respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing. Wang predicted Trump's latest comments on China will not even ripple in the international community as China's achievements are evident for the world to see.

He cited the example of how 1.4 million students have returned to school in Wuhan, the once hardest-hit city in the country, and how domestic tourism has resumed and is booming with hundreds and thousands of Chinese beginning to travel within the country as "hard evidence that speaks louder than anything, so that it will be more difficult for Trump to fool his people and the world." 

Wang, who was among the first batch of experts sent to Wuhan in January this year, pointed out that aside from the fact that Trump administration did little to contain the virus, its attitude toward scientists is also responsible for the US' failure in containing the virus. 

He said that from city-wide lockdowns, to follow-up virus prevention measures, epidemiologists played important role in the policy-making process. "The government listens to us, and values our opinion, and now confers special honors on those who are forerunners in fighting against the pandemic. But look at the US, Trump sidelined its top health adviser Anthony Fauci, because Fauci's professional opinion contradicts his own plan. "It seems like the US favors more the scientists who agree with Trump than those who point [the country] in the right direction," said Wang. 

Now Trump, a new "advocator" of herd immunity, is favoring Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist and a White House pandemic adviser, a firm proponent of this approach, media reported.

On August 11, Xi signed a presidential order awarding four persons the national medal and honorary title for their outstanding contribution to fighting the epidemic.

The Medal of the Republic, the highest state honor, was conferred on renowned respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan. Along with Zhong, China's top traditional Chinese medicine expert Zhang Boli, top Chinese vaccine researcher Chen Wei and Zhang Dingyu, dean of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, were awarded national honorary titles of "the People's Hero."

During the COVID-19 epidemic, Zhong dared to speak up, pointed out the phenomenon of "person-to-person transmission," and placed great emphasis on strict prevention and control measures, the working committee for the granting of honors said in a statement on soliciting public opinion on August 3.