Tibet fights spread of infection, sees progress

The Tibet autonomous region has been making solid progress in its battle against the latest COVID-19 outbreak, with the region's five prefecture-level cities, including Nyingchi, Chamdo, Nagchu, Lhokha, and Ngari, realizing zero COVID-19 transmission status at the community level as of 4 pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, community level transmission has been cut off in parts of counties and districts in Lhasa and Shigatse, both of which have been severely affected by the pandemic in recent days, health authorities said at a news conference on Sunday.

The plateau region reported 60 locally confirmed COVID-19 cases and 608 asymptomatic carriers between Saturday and 2 pm on Sunday. Of those infected as of Saturday, 137 cases were detected at the community level and 366 in quarantine, a sign of a decline at the community level in the region.

As of Saturday, the region had 337 areas designated as high-risk for COVID-19 and 218 as medium-risk. A total of 219 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 9,861 close contacts were dismissed from medical observation. But 62,354 people have been in centralized isolation for further medical observation.

Chodar, deputy secretary of the regional people's government, said the pandemic is in a crucial phase, and the full support and effort of all residents is still needed.

"Everyone has to unswervingly implement every measure and continue to consolidate the hard-won achievements in epidemic prevention and control," Chodar said.

Chodar expressed gratitude to the medics and all those have been working on the front line in white uniforms over the last few weeks. Special thanks were also offered to medical workers dispatched by other Chinese provinces and regions to Tibet to support the region.