Henan health official outlines 'arduous' task

Henan province reported 33 new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, including one in Zhengzhou, 29 in Anyang and three in Xuchang, the provincial Health Commission announced on Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, the province had reported 950 cases in the recent outbreak starting from Dec 31, officials said at a news conference held in Zhengzhou. Anyang had about half of those cases at 433.

"The recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Anyang has the character of multiple sporadic cases and confirmed cases in rural areas," said Zhang Ruoshi, deputy director of the provincial Health Commission. "We are facing a complicated situation and an arduous task for epidemic prevention and control, especially in rural areas."

Nucleic acid testing is a key measure to quickly contain and contain the epidemic, he said, noting: "As of Tuesday, several rounds of testing in Zhengzhou, Anyang and Yuzhou have collected around 126 million samples."

More than 30,000 people have been put in concentrated quarantine in the province, including 10,650 in Zhengzhou, 10,170 in Xuchang and 13,209 in Anyang.

"We will make every effort to achieve the goal of having no new cases reported outside quarantine areas within an incubation period," he said.

"As the Spring Festival approaches, the risk of spreading the virus will be higher because of the flow of tourists. Therefore, we urge people to celebrate Spring Festival locally."

Government departments should strengthen communication with migrant workers and interpret local epidemic prevention and control policies by means of announcements, notices, notification letters and notices to their relatives, he said.

"Further, we will provide better services to migrant workers and families with elderly members, women and children left behind by their parents who have actual difficulties, and provide targeted assistance and heartwarming services."

People who need to return home should report in advance and abide by local prevention and control policies, he said.

"Those who cause the risk of spread of the epidemic due to their failure to report, conceal or lie about their travel, residence or contact history, or who fail to implement epidemic prevention and control regulations, will be severely punished in accordance with the law."

Qi Xin in Zhengzhou contributed to this story.