CHINA. Imported cases of COVID-19 (52) overtook locally transmitted infections (47) on Friday – the first time the balance has been skewed since the latest Delta variant outbreak took hold, according to state media Global Times.
Saturday saw the pattern repeated with 36 imported cases and 30 indigenous ones, according to latest figures from the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China.
The numbers outline the authorities’ increasingly successful crackdown on the latest outbreak, which has had a sharp negative impact on domestic tourism.
Saturday’s local cases were confined to five broad areas, Jiangsu province (18), Henan province (4), Hubei province (4), Hunan province (3) and Yunnan (1).
Encouragingly, no new cases have been reported in either of China’s travel retail hotspots, Hainan and Macau since 5 August and 3 August, respectively.
Global Times reported that of the 48 cities involved in the initial outbreak, 36 have seen no new infections in the past five days. The risks of an extensive outbreak are now low, He Qinghua, an official from the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, said at a press conference.
However, the situation remains complicated, especially in the city of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. Six positive cases were found there on Thursday, Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital, told Global Times on Friday.
Citing multiple experts, the report said that the rapid spread of the Delta variant worldwide made it too soon for China to “loosen its guard” against the variant.
The US, “engulfed” by the Delta variant, has posted 2.54 million new cases in the past 28 days according to Johns Hopkins University; the UK 888,202; France 564,814; Russia 633,367; Spain 593,318; Thailand 481,282; and China’s near neighbour Japan 275,672.
Thanks to its effective control measures and a combination of strong official control and great social responsibility, China – which has reported 2,195 cases (imported and local) in the past 28 days – ranks just 107th in a global ranking of total case numbers by Worldometer.
Unlike the traditional concept of virus evolution, the COVID-19 variants have been independently developed around the world and adapted to local environments, Wuhan-based virologist Yang Zhanqiu told Global Times.
Unlike SARS which was quickly brought under control, the global spread of COVID-19 means continued mutation, the report said. China’s relatively successful epidemic control has allowed the country the chance to choose its control strategy, unlike some nations which have no choice but to live with the virus.
An expert source told Global Times that China’s current zero local rate strategy is not its only option. “We will adjust according to the virus control requirements,” the source said.
China will open the door when the time is ripe for doing so said, Zeng Guang, a former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
