CHINA / SOCIETY
Infection numbers continue to decline in past 10 days; over 550,000 cases found in China in a month: NHC
Published: Apr 28, 2022 08:48 PM
A man registers before taking a nucleic acid test in Chaoyang district, Beijing on April 27, 2022. The district on the day launched its second round of large-scale testing amid the latest Omicron epidemic. Photo: VCG

A man registers before taking a nucleic acid test in Chaoyang district, Beijing on April 27, 2022. The district on the day launched its second round of large-scale testing amid the latest Omicron epidemic. Photo: VCG


The number of local confirmed cases and silent carriers in China has been declining with fluctuations in the past 10 days, with multiple areas eliminating the spread of the virus at the community level and resuming normal work and life. Over 550,000 COVID-19 infections were reported nationwide since April, the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) said on Thursday at a press conference. 

Shanghai's COVID infection is seeing a significant downward trend, and the risk of virus transmission in local communities is dropping gradually. However, epidemic prevention and control remains tough, authorities said.

Northeast China's Jilin Province, a hard hit region and the earliest to have detected cases in the latest round of epidemic nearly two months ago, is also showing an overall decline in infection numbers, with multiple cities eliminating the spread of the virus in quarantine and controlled areas. Since Thursday, Changchun and Jilin cities will phase out of closed-loop management and resume normal life and production in an orderly manner, the local government announced. 

Beijing, where some 198 cases have been reported in the past week including 94 in the most-populated Chaoyang district, is also effectively dealing with the surging virus, the NHC said, so are six other provinces where there are flare-ups. 

"The epidemic situation in the country is complex, with multiple sources of origin and transmission chains being found, with spillovers both from outside the provinces and local unidentified sources. These have increased the complexity and difficulty of epidemic prevention and control works," said Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the Disease Control and Prevention Bureau under the NHC. 

Vaccination for the elderly aged above 60 in China has reached 226 million, accounting for 86 percent of the total elderly population. Booster shots are being arranged for these vulnerable groups in an orderly manner as well. 

Answering the question of many about whether people can still travel to other places during the upcoming May Day holidays, the NHC asked relevant departments to resolutely avoid the tendencies of both relaxation of and excessive epidemic prevention and control. Travel agencies have been asked not to arrange trips to or from medium- and high-risk regions, and the public should pay close attention to the dynamics of the epidemic. 

When asked about whether people's access to medical needs will be ensured during the holidays, the NHC required medical institutions across the country to make good arrangements for its medical services, so as to ensure that emergency services are open 24 hours a day, and that no suspension or refusal of medical care happens. 

Global Times