Following the week-long October 1 holidays, daily Covid case numbers were on the rise again in China, but have been dropping in the past week. Beijing reported more than 10 new cases several days in a row. At the 20th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, President Xi Jinping reconfirmed adherence to the zero-Covid policy.
Wu Zunyou, Chief Epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said China, which is home to 18.3% of the global population, has only 0.16% of Covid-19 cases and 0.08% of related deaths worldwide. He added that the disease’s incidence rate on the Chinese mainland is only 1/483rd of United States’, and its mortality rate is nearly 1/785th of that of the U.S. “There is no reason to cast doubt on our Covid-prevention strategy,” he said.
China must adhere to its dynamic zero-Covid strategy to protect its vulnerable population and cope with uncertainties associated with emerging variants and the lingering effects of the disease. Liang Wannian, Member of the National Health Commission’s virus control expert panel, said that completely ending the epidemic in China would require increasing mass vaccinations among the elderly, strengthening healthcare systems and developing more effective vaccines and drugs. “Although the fatality rate of Omicron is lower than that of the original strain and other variants, it can lead to large numbers of infections due to its fast and stealthy transmission and ability to evade immunity,” he said at a news briefing. “As a result, the absolute number of deaths across a certain population would still be quite large, and the disease’s mortality risk remains higher than that of influenza,” he said, adding that Omicron can also threaten to overstretch local medical systems and result in excessive deaths. Liang said China’s large populations of elderly and people with chronic illnesses are at particularly high risk of severe symptoms and death if Omicron were left to spread unchecked. He added that China hopes to end the epidemic, but more needs to be done and no specific timeline has been set.
Beilun, the core of Ningbo Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang province, has tightened epidemic control measures after new Covid-19 cases were reported. Beilun is home to Meishan Port, which has an annual container throughput of over a million TEU. Several local traders told the Global Times that their businesses have seen a certain but limited effect from the sudden epidemic situation, including some cargo trucks not being able to deliver goods from local factories to the port because of road closures and operations being suspended in some parts of the port. To reduce personnel flows and completely cut off the chain of the epidemic spread, the local government announced three-day district-wide static management (lockdown) starting from October 14. All local residents are required to take nucleic acid tests every day during the three-day period. The high automation rate of the local port – about 50% for Meishan port – reduced the impact from the restriction of personnel flows. Measures such as whitelists and green channels for logistic companies are expected to keep the region running. The region's foreign trade has shown a steady growth. In the first half of this year, Beilun district saw a total foreign trade volume of CNY217.69 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%, ranking first in Ningbo.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
