China on alert despite significant decrease in new coronavirus cases

(Patria) – Chinese state media on Saturday urged citizens to remain vigilant as the number of imported cases is slowly decreasing thanks to a new entry restriction measure for China.

There were also no new locally transmitted infections.

- Right now, we must be extremely vigilant and cautious to prevent premature post-epidemic relaxation that could jeopardize all our efforts so far, writes the People's Daily, the newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, on its front page.

Chinese authorities have also withdrawn their initial intention to reopen cinemas, concluding that it is still too early for such a step.

The biggest concern remains the so-called importation of the virus from abroad after strict home lockdowns contributed to halting local transmission of the virus. As of Saturday, China has suspended the entry of foreign nationals into the country, even those with valid visas and residence permits.

China's National Health Commission announced on Saturday that 54 new cases were reported the previous day, all of which were imported. On Thursday, this number was 55, of which only one was locally transmitted.

The total number of infected people in China is now 81,394, while the death toll has reached 3,295.

In Hubei province, where it all started, there are no new cases of infection, while three deaths have been reported. In this province alone, the number of patients is 67,801 cases with 3,177 deaths.

The director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the renowned virologist George Gao, emphasized the necessity of wearing masks in an interview with the journal Science:

- The big mistake people in Europe and the US are making is not wearing masks. Many people have asymptomatic and presymptomatic infections. If they wore protective masks, they would prevent droplet transmission of the virus to others, Gao warned.