The latest Covid-19 outbreaks in Fujian and Heilongjiang provinces have been effectively brought under control, as China reported no new locally transmitted cases on October 5, although there are still several imported cases daily, mainly Chinese citizens returning home from abroad.
China is accelerating the formulation of guidelines for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for key groups of people as the risk of infection from imported coronavirus variants remains high, Cui Gang, an official at the National Health Commission (NHC), said. Booster shots will be given first to people who work in high-risk areas including airports, ports, border checkpoints and hospitals, as well as people over the age of 60. Whether booster shots should be given to all people is still being researched.
At a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping called for stronger measures to prevent and curb biological risks. He emphasized the importance of biosecurity, which is a key component of overall national security, saying that the issue is vital to people’s health, the long-term stability of the country and the sustained development of the Chinese nation. China’s first Biosecurity Law came into force in April. China must reinforce biosafety management of pathogenic micro-organism laboratories, which must strictly carry out relevant protocols and standards, and manage samples, lab animals and waste in a stringent manner, Xi Jinping said. He added that China must work toward self-reliance and a stronger capacity in science and technology regarding biosecurity. Xi Jinping also cautioned against complacency in the nation’s efforts to fight the pandemic, saying that the various containment measures must be enforced in a strict manner.
China published a chronicle of its work facilitating a WHO-organized mission to study the origins of the coronavirus, starting in July last year, when the World Health Organization and China began laying the groundwork for deepening understanding of the coronavirus’ origins, and ending in late March, after a joint report was released to the public and international and Chinese members of the team held briefings about the results of the investigation. The joint team’s trip to Wuhan covered a number of key facilities, including the hospital that first reported a patient with a mysterious pneumonia-like disease and a local infectious diseases hospital that treated a large number of patients severely ill with Covid-19. The team also went to the Huanan seafood market, local disease control and prevention centers, a provincial-level animal disease control institution, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), a blood donation center and some neighborhoods. Publication of the chronicle is intended to counter Western claims that China was secretive and withheld information.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Global Times and Shanghai Daily.
