Nucleic acid testing in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province Photo: VCG

 
No new local COVID-19 cases or asymptomatic cases were reported in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, on Sunday, which marked the first day of "zero new cases" since the resurgence of COVID-19 outbreak on July 20. 

But Nanjing health authority warned the public that it does not mean zero risk of infections and the anti-epidemic work should not be relaxed.

A total of 231 locally transmitted confirmed cases have been reported in Nanjing in the latest outbreak, Nanjing health bureau authorities said at a conference on Monday. 

207 confirmed patients are under treatment and all of them are in stable conditions, of whom 59 cases are mild and 148 are normal, and there are no severe or critical cases, said Ding Xiaoping, deputy director of Nanjing health bureau.

Four more confirmed patients have met the discharge standards and will be transferred to designated hospitals for rehabilitation treatment on Monday. As of the press conference, Nanjing has had such confirmed patients meeting discharge standards for five consecutive days, and a total of 24 people have been transferred to designated rehabilitation institutions, said the health authority.

Two of the medium-risk areas in the city -- a residential community in Jianye district and a street in Gulou district - have had their risk levels degraded to low from Monday.

Now the city has a high-risk area and 19 medium-risk areas.

In recent days, although some areas in Nanjing have changed from medium-risk to low-risk and the number of new cases has slowed down, the first day of "zero new cases" does not mean "zero risk," said a Nanjing official at the press conference, noting the unsealed areas cannot relax the epidemic prevention and control.

At present, the situation of the epidemic prevention and control in Nanjing continues to be severe and complex, said the official.

Since July 26, all 334 public entertainment venues and 161 cultural and sports venues in Pukou district have been closed. These include internet cafes, theaters, chess and card rooms and gyms. 

In Nanjing, where the latest outbreak started, at least 15 officials received penalties on Saturday, including Hu Wanjin, a vice mayor of Nanjing, Fang Zhongyou, Party chief of the Nanjing Health Commission and Wang Chao, commander of the anti-epidemic control work at Nanjing Lukou International Airport. The ineffective epidemic prevention and control at the airport was found to have triggered the outbreak.

Global Times