The number of new daily Covid-19 cases dropped to zero in mainland China on August 23, while on August 24 one new locally transmitted case was reported.
Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, downgraded all areas of the city to low risk and public transport will gradually resume after one month of battle against the Covid-19 delta variant. Train services that were halted owing to the rise in Covid-19 cases resumed on August 20, including trains running from Nanjing to Shanghai. Nanjing has reported 235 locally transmitted cases. No new cases have been reported for more than a week in the city, which has a population of 9.3 million. Children in the city can only return to school 21 days after all its areas are classified as low risk.
It is probable that China will reach 80% Covid-19 vaccine coverage by the end of this year, achieving herd immunity, top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said. “The efficacy of Chinese vaccines is around 70%. Only if more than 80% of the country's entire population is vaccinated, can it establish herd immunity effectively. China's vaccination rate could probably reach more than 80% by the end of this year,” Zhong said at a conference at the 5th China-Arab States Expo held in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Research focused on Guangzhou Covid-19 flare-ups in May showed that the protection rate of Chinese inactivated vaccines against the delta variant nears 60%, 70% against moderate symptoms and 100% against severe cases, Zhong noted.
An institute in Wuhan under the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a subsidiary of Sinopharm, has isolated the delta variant of the coronavirus and is accelerating development on delta-specific vaccines. Some Chinese experts noted that the high virus load of delta requires booster shots to increase the antibody level in recipients to neutralize the virus. By now, about 798 million people in China have been fully vaccinated, representing 57% of the mainland's population.
As the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics approach, Beijing authorities highlighted the strict epidemic prevention and control measures needed to ensure the Games can be held safely and as scheduled. Experts noted it is highly likely that Olympics-related personnel will receive a booster shot, as the delta strain is causing an increase in breakthrough infections. “As we enter the Beijing Winter Olympics moment, strict epidemic prevention and control are the important premise for successfully hosting the Winter Olympics," Cai Qi, Communist Party Secretary of Beijing and also President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, said during his inspection of the competition venues. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20, 2022.
In response to the U.S. regulator's move to limit passenger capacity on Chinese airlines for several weeks, China's Foreign Ministry said that the U.S. has no ground to limit inbound air passenger capacity on Chinese carriers, and China has always adopted equal epidemic prevention and control policies for any plane entering China. Four Chinese airlines – Air China, China Eastern, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines – fly between China and the U.S. The U.S. move came after a United Airlines UA857 flight to Shanghai via Seoul was found to be carrying five positive Covid-19 cases on July 22, and the flight's passenger capacity was restricted to no more than 40% for four weeks starting on August 9. The U.S. government says China's “circuit breaker” policy violates the nations' air services agreement and “places undue culpability on carriers with respect to travelers that test positive for Covid-19 after their arrival in China”. In response, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that the “circuit breaker” policy for overseas flights is an important measure to curb imported cases, and the policy is fair and transparent for airlines from home and abroad.
One week after the suspension of operations of a terminal at Ningbo Zhoushan Port – one of the world's busiest cargo ports – due to a positive Covid-19 case, a knock-on effect on global and domestic logistics has emerged. However, the port operator said that the port retains nearly 90% of its throughput capacity and that the daily throughput is improving from July. Some global shipping firms said their operations have not been affected. The Meishan Wharf of Ningbo Zhoushan Port confirmed that operations have been suspended since August 11 and containers cannot be shipped out.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Global Times, Shanghai Daily and South China Morning Post.
