Residents in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province purchase daily commodities at a supermarket on Tuesday. Photo: VCG

Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province, with a population of more than 13 million residents, announced on Tuesday that the city will lift the COVID-19 temporary control for COVID-19 low-risk regions and gradually resume normal life and social orders after more than 10 days fight against the virus. The province still calls on full epidemic preparations in face of the upcoming seasons due to the grim situation.

Henan on Monday held a special meeting on the epidemic to deploy the prevention and control in the upcoming winter and spring next year. The province called for full preparation in terms of spirit and materials, and all officials should not slack off and they should strive for all the efforts to ensure people's safety and health, according to Henan provincial government.

Henan on Monday reported 13 confirmed local COVID-19 cases all in Zhengzhou and 91 local asymptomatic carriers including 82 in Zhengzhou, according to Henan health authorities on Tuesday.

A giant Foxconn production plant in Zhengzhou has also been affected and official working groups have been dispatched to guide the epidemic prevention and control. Foxconn vowed to ensure safe return of employees who wish to return home.

An additional 200 staff doing nucleic acid tests have been dispatched to the Foxconn production plant, as a way to detect the infectors as soon as possible amid several rounds of nucleic acid test, in order to curb the virus spreading, according to the local authorities on Monday. Meanwhile, an additional 400 working staff have also been dispatched to the region to do timely disinfection.

Foxconn previously denied rumors claiming that about 20,000 employees have been affected with COVID-19 in the company's Zhengzhou park and claimed that "operation and production in the Zhengzhou park is relatively stable with health and safety measures for employees being maintained," according to a statement sent to the Global Times previously.

A classified epidemic management will be conducted to help resume the normal life gradually in Zhengzhou. Residents should abide by the requirements of epidemic prevention and control, wear masks, scan health codes, check the negative nucleic acid test certificate within 24 hours before traveling, and residents are not allowed to go to the COVID-19 affected areas, said the authorities.

Zhengzhou advised residents not to leave the city unless necessary. For those residents who indeed have to leave should obtain the negative nucleic acid test certificate within 24 hours and a health green code before leaving, said the authorities. Personnel entering the city need to report their travel information three days ahead and other health information.

Zhengzhou city authorities on Tuesday wrote a public letter to all the residents in the city and thanked their efforts in fighting against the virus. 

The virus strains in this round of epidemic have greater transmission speed, and are more insidious and infectious, the authorities wrote in the letter. The incubation and the intergenerational period are short, and most of the infectors are asymptomatic carriers. It has brought the risk challenge to the epidemic prevention and control, but the virus is weak, "there are no patients in critical conditions and residents should not be panic," according to the letter.

Despite the fact that some at risk regions in Zhengzhou are still under temporary control due to the severe epidemic situation and uncertainties, the city authorities vowed to ensure the daily supplies including food and medicines to be delivered in time.

An Wei, Party secretary of Zhengzhou on Monday said that the city should take achieving the goal of zero cases among social communities as the main direction, and strive for basically restoring the normal social life by adjusting the epidemic control dynamically in a scientific approach.

Zhengzhou health commission also issued relevant information to ease residents' panic over the virus and educate the public the effective way to protect themselves and how to use medicine under the instructions of doctors once they are infected by the virus.

For those at risk communities, a dynamic management will also be carried out such as residents being allowed to fetch their deliveries at a staggering manner. But for those risky residential buildings, door-to-door services will be conducted to reduce the personnel flow risks, according to the authorities.

The city will also optimize the conditions for nucleic acid testing and gradually resume the daily operations of the supermarkets, barber shops, pharmacies and other venues based on the epidemic control dynamically.