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No new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 were reported on the Chinese mainland Wednesday, according to the National Health Commission Thursday. It meant that no new infections were reported on Wednesday in Wuhan and Hubei Province at large.
- While making all-out efforts to combat it at home, China is actively engaging in international cooperation and providing as much help as possible to other countries and international organizations, according to the regular press conference of the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.
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As of the end of Wednesday, Chongqing had reported a total of 576 confirmed cases, without any hospitalization, severe case or critical case, and including six deaths and 570 discharged patients. Wednesday had no newly established case in Chongqing for the 23rd consecutive day.
- The first group of Chongqing municipal medical teams of 133 members returned in triumph to the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on Wednesday. These heroes and heroines were welcomed by a water salute ceremony.
Chongqing- As of 24:00 local time on March 18, Chongqing had reported no confirmed cases currently hospitalized, no severe case or critical case, six deaths, and 570 discharged patients after recovery, according to the Chongqing Municipal Health Commission Thursday. All those cases had totaled 576 confirmed cases infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as of the end of Wednesday in Chongqing.
Wednesday had no newly established case in Chongqing for the 23rd consecutive day. A total of 23,765 people who had close contacts with COVID-19 patients have been traced, 23,653 people have been released from medical observation, and 112 people are under medical observation.
The first group of Chongqing municipal medical teams of 133 members, composed of the fourth and ninth batches of teams sent to support Hubei, returned in triumph to the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on Wednesday. These heroes and heroines were welcomed by a water salute ceremony.
The first group of Chongqing municipal medical teams of 133 members, composed of the fourth and ninth batches of teams sent to support Hubei, return in triumph to the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on March 18, 2020. (Photo by Gan Xiayi)
99.9% operating rate of industrial enterprises above designated size in Chongqing
According to Wednesday's press conference on COVID-19 prevention and Control, Chongqing issued an online training policy for vocational skills improvement in a timely way. It aims to support various types of workers to participate in employment skills training via the Internet. Training subsidies are provided to more than 350 occupations according to skill levels.
As of March 17, all together, 5.348 million migrant workers have safely returned to their workplace with a returning-to-work rate of 90.5%, using "point-to-point" transportation, orderly public transportation, and driving. Moreover, the operating rate (including continuous production) of the industrial enterprises above designated size in Chongqing reached 99.9%, and 96.3% of employees returned to work. Key processing electronics companies have been helped to recruit 56,000 new workers.
In addition, the municipal health system has actively used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to involve in public prevention and medical treatment and has established and improved a cooperative treatment system for TCM and Western medicine. As of Tuesday, 84.91% of the recovered patients received coordinated treatment with TCM and Western medicine.
No locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 in China
No new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 were reported on the Chinese mainland Wednesday, according to the National Health Commission (NHC) Thursday. It meant that no new infections were reported on Wednesday in Wuhan and Hubei Province at large.
The NHC received reports of 34 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Wednesday, all of which were imported.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,928 by the end of Wednesday, including 70,420 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,245 people who died of the disease. By the end of Wednesday, 192 confirmed cases, including four deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 15 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 100 in Taiwan, including one death. A total of 95 patients in Hong Kong, 10 in Macao, and 22 in Taiwan had been discharged from the hospital after recovery.
China is actively engaging in international cooperation
"While making all-out efforts to combat it at home, China is actively engaging in international cooperation and providing as much help as possible to other countries and international organizations," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at the regular press conference on March 18.
So far, the Chinese government has delivered medical supplies to Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, Iran, the ROK, Japan, and the African Union, donated $20 million to the WHO, and announced assistance to be delivered to dozens of countries including Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Serbia, the EU, Cambodia, the Philippines, Egypt, South Africa, Iraq, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Cuba, and Chile. China also supports countries' procurement of medical supplies made in China. Its local governments, enterprises, and civil institutions also made donations to other countries.
Moreover, China is sharing its medical know-how with the world by sending healthcare professionals to Iran, Iraq, Italy, and other countries, and holding video conferences with other countries and international organizations.
"We will strengthen cooperation with other countries in response to the COVID-19 challenge and together build a community with a shared future for mankind," said the spokesperson.
WHO official: it's really important we be careful in the language we use
"Viruses know no borders, and they don't care about your ethnicity, the color of your skin, or how much money you have in the bank. So it's really important we be careful in the language we use lest it lead to the profiling of individuals associated with the virus," Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of WHO's emergencies program, said at a news conference Wednesday when asked about Trump's comments inciting violence against Asians, according to a CNBC report. The U.S. President referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus".
Ryan repeated WHO's calls for solidarity, saying that characterizing a virus in such a manner could result in xenophobic behavior and "I'm sure anyone would regret profiling a virus along those lines." "The pandemic influenza of 2009 originated in North America. We didn't call it the North American flu," Ryan observed.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the name of COVID-19 for the disease at the media briefing on February 11. He said the name was under agreed guidelines between the WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. They had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease. The WHO chief said, "Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks."
There were now more than 191,127 confirmed cases (15,123 new) globally, and 7,807 people (786 new) have lost their lives as of CET 00:00 March 18, according to the daily COVID-19 situation report released by the World Health Organization (WHO).