Hu Qiangqiang:
Friends from the media, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference held by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.
Today, we have invited officials from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), General Administration of Customs (GAC), and the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), as well as an expert from the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA). They will take your questions on measures being taken to forestall inbound COVID-19 transmissions and strengthen the supervision of imported cold-chain food.
We have with us Li Xingqian, director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the MOC; Bi Kexin, director of the Bureau of Import and Export Food Safety of the GAC; Dang Qianying, deputy director of the Department of Food Operation of the SAMR; and Li Ning, deputy director and researcher of the CFSA.
My name is Hu Qiangqiang, and I am the spokesperson and deputy director of the Department of Publicity of the National Health Commission (NHC).
First, I will report on the COVID-19 situation in China.
On July 9, 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, reported four new confirmed cases of infections (which were all imported), three new suspected cases (all of which were also imported), but no deaths.
A total of 19 patients were discharged from hospital after recovering, and 311 people who had been in close contact with infected persons were deemed no longer in need of medical observation. The number of serious cases decreased from that of the previous day by one.
A total of 71 imported cases are currently receiving treatment, and there remain five suspected cases from abroad. As of July 9, the Chinese mainland reported a total of 1,962 imported cases and no deaths. Among them, 1,891 patients have already been discharged from hospital after recovering.
According to the figures reported by 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland, as of July 9, there were still 342 confirmed cases. In total, 78,609 patients had been discharged [since the start of the outbreak] after recovery, and 4,634 people had died of the disease. The accumulated confirmed cases on the mainland reached 83,585, while eight suspected cases were still under observation. A total of 765,615 people had been identified as having had close contact with infected persons, and 3,796 were still under medical observation.
On July 9, the 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported three new asymptomatic cases. None have gone on to become confirmed cases. Two people were removed from further medical observation, and a total of 113 asymptomatic cases remained under medical observation.
A total of 1,860 confirmed cases have so far been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR and Taiwan. The breakdown is 1,365 in Hong Kong, 46 in Macao, and 449 in Taiwan.
Over the past 10 days, the daily number of newly confirmed cases has remained in single digits on the Chinese mainland, with 81.4% being arrivals from overseas carrying the virus. The task of preventing imported cases is still arduous. Vigilant efforts should be continued in order to tighten the COVID-19 containment measures at border posts so as to minimize inbound transmissions. This is the current situation regarding the epidemic.
Now, we will move onto your questions. Please keep your questions within the scope of the theme of today's press conference, and identify your news outlet before asking your question.
