Mi Feng:
Friends from the media, good afternoon. I'm Mi Feng, spokesperson of the National Health Commission (NHC) and deputy director of the NHC's Department of Publicity. Welcome to the press conference held by Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.
Today's press conference focuses on strengthening quality control of medical supplies and improving market regulation.
We have invited Ms. Jiang Fan, first-level inspector of the Department of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Commerce; Mr. Jin Hai, chief of the Department of General Operation at the General Administration of Customs; Mr. Liu Weijun, head of the Department of Certification Regulation at the State Administration for Market Regulation; and Ms. Zhang Qi, deputy head of the Department of Medical Device Regulation at the National Medical Products Administration. They will answer your questions about the quality of exported products and how relevant certifications are granted.
First, I'll report on the COVID-19 situation in China.
On April 4, 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 30 new cases of confirmed infections (25 imported cases and five domestic ones in Guangdong province), three deaths (all in Hubei province), and 11 new suspected cases (all of them imported). 213 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering and 1,869 people who had been in close contact with infected patients were relieved from medical observation. The number of severe cases decreased by 36.
697 imported cases were being treated, with 18 in severe condition. 107 people from abroad were still suspected of being infected with the virus. As of April 4, the Chinese mainland had reported a total of 913 imported cases, of which 216 had been discharged from hospitals after recovering.
According to the figures reported by 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as of 24:00 on April 4, 1,376 patients were still being treated, including 295 in serious condition. In all, 76,964 patients had been discharged after recovering, and 3,329 people had died of the disease. The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 81,669, and 107 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus. So far, 713,110 people have been identified as having had close contact with infected patients, and 17,436 are now under medical observation.
On April 4, Hubei reported no new cases of confirmed infections, no new cases of suspected infections, and three deaths, all in Wuhan. 183 patients were also discharged after recovering, and all these patients were discharged in Wuhan. There remained 648 confirmed cases, including 644 in Wuhan; 267 were in serious condition, 264 of which were in Wuhan. As of 24:00 on April 4, 63,945 patients had been discharged from hospitals after recovering, including 46,794 in Wuhan. Hubei had reported 3,210 deaths, including 2,570 in Wuhan, and there is a total of 67,803 cases of confirmed infections, including 50,008 in Wuhan.
A total of 47 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on April 4, including 16 imported ones. Three asymptomatic cases, all of which were imported, were re-categorized as confirmed infections, and 50 were discharged from medical observation, including eight imported cases. The total number of asymptomatic cases on medical observation reached 1,024, and 244 of them are imported ones. As of April 4, a total of 1,261 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR and Taiwan, including 862 cases in Hong Kong, 44 in Macao and 355 in Taiwan.
On April 4, the number of COVID-19 cases in severe condition in China fell below 300, and the number of confirmed cases hit less than 700. Thus, our treatment has proved effective. The top Chinese COVID-19 medical team is still working in Wuhan, providing personalized treatment to patients in severe condition, and improving the cure rate. According to the WHO, the global COVID-19 caseload has breached the one million mark. The WHO again stressed that every COVID-19 patient should be identified, tested, kept in quarantine and treated; and every COVID-19 contact should be traced. The spread of COVID-19 throughout the rest of the world has put pressure on Chinese port cities of entry; attention has been paid to their capacity for epidemic prevention and control as well as their ability to perform medical treatments and tests. In order to stem the leaks, collaborative efforts should be made for pandemic prevention and control, quarantine and inspection of inbound travelers, passenger transition, medical observation and community management on COVID-19. Such is the state of the epidemic.
Next, we will move on to questions. Please raise questions that are based on the theme of today's press conference, and identify your news outlet first. The floor is now open for questions.
