China Reports NO New COVID Cases as of Today - Full Details

Source: Global Times

The Chinese mainland for the first time reported zero new domestic COVID-19 cases on Sunday since December 17, some 53 days after the latest outbreak hit the country across several regions this winter. Chinese health experts believed this signals a phased victory against the virus that ensures a safe environment for the Spring Festival holidays.

The National Health Commission stated in the Sunday update that the Chinese mainland has found no new domestic cases and only one local asymptomatic case, with the remaining 14 confirmed cases all imported from overseas. 

No new deaths or suspected domestic cases were reported either, said the statement. 

So far, a total of 2,071 domestic cases have been reported in the recent flare-up across the country, media reports said. China reported one local infection in Southwest China's Sichuan Province on December 17, 2020, and since then the country has been dragged into another round of strenuous battle against the coronavirus in many parts of China, with North China's Hebei Province, and Northeast China's Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces the most affected. 

Hebei, the epicenter of this winter outbreak, has not reported a single new confirmed case for four consecutive days as of Sunday.

The only high-risk area for contracting COVID-19 in the province, Gaocheng district in Shijiazhuang, will be downgraded to medium-risk on Monday, as authorities announced that the local viral spike which began on January 2 has been effectively brought under control. 

The positive signs in curbing the disease suggest a phased victory against the outbreak this winter, noted Chinese health experts, adding that a safe environment across the country has been ensured before the busiest gathering event of the Spring Festival, Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times, attributing the victory to strict anti-virus measures adopted both across regions and for goods and people coming from overseas. 

He added that for the remaining 10 high-risk areas and 41 medium-risk areas nationwide, as long as all confirmed patients and close contacts have been released from quarantine and no new infections have been recorded, the region will be declared a safe zone.