|
 Concerns
remain over an influx of infected patients from overseas as well as
China's ability to detect asymptomatic patients, and the government
in Wuhan has tried to reassure the public that it remains vigilant.
Feng Jing, who runs a group of community workers looking after the
Tanhualin neighbourhood in Wuhan, said during a government-run tour
for journalists on Friday that they would continue to carry out
extensive checks on residents.
"We carry out comprehensive health checks everyday and keep detailed
records of their health condition," she said, adding that there is
no likelihood of asymptomatic cases in her community.
"Currently our neighbourhood is an epidemic-free community - it's
been 45 days so far, so we don't have this situation," she said.
China reported a fall in new coronavirus cases on Friday after
leaders promised to accelerate the country's economic recovery,
boost domestic demand and put more people back to work.
The country reported 42 new cases on Thursday, down from 63 a day
earlier. Of the daily total, 38 were imported, down from 61 on
Wednesday.
China's central government coronavirus taskforce chaired by Premier
Li Keqiang said on Thursday that they would speed up efforts to
revive the economy while at the same time introducing targeted
measures aimed at preventing infected people from crossing the
country's border.
It said China now needed to "actively create favourable conditions"
to restore normality in the economy, though it warned there was
still a risk of a rebound in cases.
In Shanghai, state media have also been deployed to dispel online
rumours that the city has now become "the most dangerous place in
the country" as thousands of people flood in from Wuhan, including
many asymptomatic and recovered patients.
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With the government now promising to deploy resources to tackle high-risk areas,
much of the focus has shifted to Heilongjiang, which reported 28 new imported
cases crossing the border from Russia on Thursday. The province has so far found
154 cases of imported infections.
The virus, which first broke out in Wuhan in late 2019, has since spread around
the world infecting more than 1.4 million people, killing more than 87,700.
Officials in Wuhan said on Friday the city will spend 200 million yuan ($28.4
million) to upgrade the city's 425 farmers' markets, as part of a campaign to
improve hygiene.
Several of the early cases of Covid-19 were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan
that also sold other species, suggesting that the new virus may have jumped from
an animal traded there to people.
"Once reopened, the farmers markets should ensure no trade in wild animals and
no trade in live poultry," Hong Zhihua, vice director of Hubei's Patriotic
Health Campaign Committee Office, told a press briefing.
Liu Qingxiang, vice director at Wuhan's health commission, said infrastructure
in the markets would be improved and become more similar to supermarkets.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the global economy as governments imposed
lockdowns to rein in its spread.
(This story corrects quote from Hubei official in paragraph 15 to say live
poultry, not live animals.)
(Reporting by Brenda Goh, Se Young Lee and Leng Cheng; Writing by David Stanway
and Dominique Patton; Editing by Michael Perry)
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