Press conference on the role of scientific and technological innovation in supporting epidemic prevention and control
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 22, 2020
CCTV:
Is there a slowing trend in new confirmed cases? Have we arrived at a turning point of this outbreak or not? The numbers of new confirmed cases recently released by the National Health Commission show a decline in places other than Hubei province, so does that mean prevention and control of the outbreak has turned for the better across the country? Thank you.
Zeng Yixin:
Since the outbreak, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have paid close attention to this, and General Secretary Xi Jinping has made arrangements and given directions personally. Medical personnel throughout the country are working their utmost, and all walks of life in China offer vigorous support. Therefore, as you said, the prevention and control work of the outbreak has made significant progress and showed positive signs. I have listed six sets of numbers here, which can be summarized as four decreases, one increase, and a zero report in some provincial-level regions. This will give you a better understanding of the trend of the outbreak.
The first decrease is in the number of confirmed cases. This gradually dropped from the highest level of all, 15,152 reached on Feb. 12, to less than 900 on Feb. 20. The second decrease is in the number of new confirmed cases in all provincial-level regions except Hubei. That number dropped from the highest level of 890 on Feb. 3 to 258 on Feb. 20. The third decrease is in cities throughout Hubei, except for Wuhan. The number of new confirmed cases in these cities dropped from the highest level of 1,404 reached on Feb. 12 to less than 400 on Feb. 20. The fourth decrease is in Wuhan itself. There, the number of new confirmed cases dropped from the highest level of 3,910 reached on Feb. 13 to less than 400 on Feb. 20. As to the "one increase," this relates to the number of newly recovered patients discharged from hospitals, which is rapidly growing across China, surpassing the number of new confirmed cases for three consecutive days since Feb. 18. On Feb. 20, newly recovered patients throughout the country outnumbered new confirmed cases by 1,220. Those in 30 provincial-level regions of China and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps is either on par with or has surpassed the number of new confirmed cases in the relevant area. These are prominent signs of improvement.
As to zero report, that means the number of provincial-level regions reporting no new confirmed cases is gradually increasing. Tibet Autonomous Region has reported no new confirmed case since Jan. 30. And as of Feb. 20, 14 provincial-level regions (such as Inner Mongolia and Liaoning) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps had reported no new confirmed cases. Among them, Qinghai has maintained this for 15 consecutive days, Liaoning, Guizhou, Gansu and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for four straight days, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has for three consecutive days.
The concepts of the four "drops," one "increase" and "zero reported cases" in some provinces are information I would like to share with you. I also want to add that the number of suspected cases has declined significantly. The number of suspected cases outside Hubei province nationwide has been declining daily, from 2,211 on Feb. 6 to 335 on Feb. 20. At the same time, the number of people under medical observation has also been gradually declining, from 190,000 on Feb. 7 to 120,000 on Feb. 19.
We can tell from these numbers that the overall situation is gradually improving, and the outbreak is under control, as several provinces have reported no new confirmed cases. However, newly-reported deaths are still at a high level in Hubei province and Wuhan city, so we need to continue treating the situation very seriously.
We must take science-based, targeted and tiered principles, and advance epidemic control and prevention from the county to the national level, and step up our efforts to restore social and economic order. We will strictly prevent the resurgence of the outbreak, and win the "people's war" against the epidemic. Thank you.
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