New turning point and challenge in fighting Covid-19 in China

"Overcoming the crisis"

According to AFP news agency, the strong reversal in China - where the epidemic first broke out - took place in the context of countries around the world racing to "close down", one after another closing down in an all-out effort to contain the widespread spread of the disease.

Perhaps just a few weeks ago, few people would have thought that the wind would turn around like it is now, when the number of infections and deaths within China is lower than the number outside.

According to the country's National Health Commission (NHC), on Thursday, for the first time since authorities began releasing coronavirus-related data in January, they recorded no new cases in Wuhan - the city in central China where the first Covid-19 case emerged in December last year, which later became the epicenter not only of China but of the world.

Two people in Wuhan walk on a deserted street on January 27, 2020. Getty Images

It should be recalled that, since January 23, Wuhan and its 11 million people have been placed under strict quarantine and isolation, and in the following days, more than 40 million people in the remaining areas of Hubei province also entered a period of "no entry or exit".

Other localities in China have also simultaneously implemented tough measures to limit large public gatherings and reduce social contact, which is a factor that increases the risk of an outbreak.

According to information from the NHC, China recorded 8 more deaths on March 19, all in Hubei province, bringing the total number of deaths nationwide to 3,245. Thus, currently in this country, nearly 81,000 cases of infection have been recorded, but only 7,263 people still need treatment.

CNN cited data updated on March 20 by Johns Hopkins University, saying that the total number of Covid-19 infections worldwide is 244,500, of which at least 10,000 have died. The number of deaths in Italy as of the end of March 19 was 3,405, higher than in China.

After many days of struggling with the epidemic, good news only knocked on China's door on March 10 when President Xi Jinping personally inspected Wuhan for the first time since the outbreak, declaring there that the spread of Covid-19 had "basically been contained". On the same day, Hubei authorities began to lift the "embargo", allowing people to travel within the province, except for Wuhan.

Life is gradually returning to normal in some areas of China. Photo: AFP

As of March 18, although Wuhan is still excluded, Hubei authorities have made significant moves to loosen restrictions, announcing that they will partially open up the checkpoints, allowing healthy people from low-risk areas to leave the province if they have jobs or residence elsewhere.

Life is gradually returning to normal in other parts of China, with people returning to work, factories reopening, and schools in some areas getting ready to welcome back students to complete the school year interrupted by the pandemic.

Second wave

But as mentioned, not being too happy or complacent is something that China must definitely keep in mind, as an average of 20,000 people are currently on flights to the country every day, raising concerns about the possibility of a second wave of infections caused by the massive influx of cases from abroad.

China has gone several days without new domestic infections. Photo: AFP

Beijing and other regions now require most international flights to undergo a 14-day quarantine at designated hotels. China’s civil aviation authority said on March 19 that it would limit the number of passengers on international flights to the country, and said airlines would need to submit flight schedules for approval before they can operate.

Thousands of passenger flights have now been cancelled worldwide, as many airlines are forced to cancel routes due to a series of travel restrictions and a drop in passenger demand.

Perhaps to ease the burden on the capital city, China's Civil Aviation Administration also announced that some international flights to Beijing will be diverted to other cities, where passengers will undergo medical examinations and customs declarations before continuing their flights back to Beijing.

More than 10,000 deaths worldwide due to Covid-19. Illustration photo: AFP

The NHC also reported on the same day that China had 34 new cases, all of whom were people coming from other countries. This was the largest increase in the number of “imported” cases in the past two weeks, bringing the total number of such cases in China to 189.

Faced with this situation, at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party's leadership in the middle of the week, President Xi Jinping had to cautiously warn: "We will never allow this hard-won and continuous positive trend to be reversed."