Jabs less urgent as China sees cases drop to zero

For nine days, China has logged no local Covid-19 infection. Counties in the northern provinces of Hebei and Heilongjiang, in the grip of the virus at the end of 2020 when clusters threatened to spill into Beijing, have vanquished the outbreak. 

The nation now has no zone marked high or medium-risk of catching the virus after Hebei, Heilongjiang and Beijing swiftly cleared local cases.

Now, Beijing mouthpiece the People’s Daily is talking up the prospect of relaxing anti-pandemic measures across large tracts of the nation if the no-local-case streak can be sustained for 14 days, the typical incubation period. 

China has only 386 confirmed patients and carriers being treated and isolated, most of whom are imported cases or close contacts, according to the National Health Commission. 

The Health Times, a publication under the People’s Daily umbrella, claimed this week that a turning point is on the horizon and that this year, even without vaccines, people could expect to start going about their lives as normal.