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The
latest resurgence of COVID-19 in China, caused mainly by the Delta
variant, is more complicated but the epidemic is generally controllable,
Chinese officials said Thursday. In
the latest wave, 15 provincial-level regions -- out of 31 -- on the
Chinese mainland have reported COVID-19 infections, said He Qinghua, a
senior official with the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press
conference organized by the State Council inter-agency task force. 'Controllable' "As
long as local authorities strictly implement various prevention and
control measures, I think the epidemic will be largely under control
within two to three incubation periods," he said. He
acknowledged that the current wave is more complicated and has put some
strain on response efforts since it has multiple imported sources and
has affected a wide range of people and places. An
NHC spokesperson said at the press conference that there is an
increasing risk of the epidemic spreading as sporadic outbreaks took
place in multiple places during the peak of summer travel. Whenever
there is an outbreak, the most stringent measures must be taken to bring
the epidemic under control as swiftly as possible, said Mi Feng, the
spokesperson. The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 62 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases, the NHC said in its daily report Thursday. Of
the locally-transmitted cases, 40 were reported from Jiangsu, nine from
Hunan, three each from Beijing, Shandong, Henan and Yunnan, and one
from Hubei, according to the commission. The
latest outbreak mainly originated from a flight that departed from
Russia and landed in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.
Further viral genome sequencing has found that all the strains in the
recent resurgence of COVID-19 were the highly infectious Delta variant. He
Qinghua said China's current COVID-19 containment measures are
effective against the variant. Vaccines administered across the country
-- having surpassed 1.72 billion doses as of Wednesday -- also
demonstrate good preventive and protective effects against the variant,
he said. China had earlier
successfully stopped the spread of the variant in multiple
densely-populated regions with high population mobility in Guangdong
Province, which proves measures including vaccination, wearing masks,
washing hands frequently, keeping social distance, and avoiding crowded
places are effective, the official said. Swift actions Mi,
the spokesperson, also said the State Council inter-agency task force
for COVID-19 response has sent 20 working groups to key port cities
across the country to aid anti-virus efforts. The
working groups will supervise and guide the port cities in plugging
loopholes in measures to prevent imported infections and respond to
possible outbreaks, Mi added. An
education official told the press conference that schools in China's
areas classified as having medium or high risks of COVID-19 outbreaks
may delay the start of the upcoming autumn semester. Liu
Peijun, an official with the Ministry of Education, said that should
there exist medium or high-risk areas right before the start of the new
semester, schools in the areas will accordingly postpone the beginning
of the session. COVID-19 prevention and control is the top priority for the new semester, Liu said. China
is also stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the
tourism and culture sectors, said Yu Changguo, an official with the
Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The
ministry has urged all travel agencies and online platforms to avoid
high and medium-risk areas in their offers, pay close attention to the
COVID-19 situation in tourist destinations, and adjust or cancel ongoing
tours accordingly, Yu added. As of
Wednesday, 1,152 tourist attractions with A ratings, the country's
highest rating for scenic spots, had been temporarily closed to visitors
as requested, according to Yu. Tourist
spots and cultural venues were also asked to fully implement
epidemic-prevention measures, including limiting tourist numbers,
adopting staggered visiting hours, taking visitors' temperature before
allowing them in, and sterilizing public facilities regularly, Yu added. China's
film watchdog on Thursday asked cinemas across the country to guard
against COVID-19 resurgence based on local conditions. Movie
theaters in medium and high-risk areas should be closed, said the China
Film Administration in the circular, adding that the attendance rate
for those in low-risk areas should remain under 75 percent.
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