The State Council Information Office held a press conference on July 3 to brief the media on COVID-19 prevention and regulation measures for farmers markets. [Photo/China.com.cn]
Speakers:
Hu Jianping, deputy director of the Department of Market System Development, Ministry of Commerce
Chen Xu, market inspector at the State Administration for Market Regulation
He Qinghua, class-I counsel of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control of the National Health Commission (NHC)
Zhang Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Department of Food Safety Standards, Monitoring and Evaluation, NHC
Chairperson:
Hu Qiangqiang, spokesperson and deputy director of the Department of Publicity of the NHC
Date:
July 3, 2020
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.
Food is the most basic necessity of the people, while vegetables, grain and fruit concern people's livelihood. Farmers markets are one of the key locations for COVID-19 prevention and control. As such, COVID-19 prevention and regulation at these markets have gained great attention. In this press conference, we will introduce you to the epidemic prevention and regulation measures in place at farmers markets. Afterwards, the speakers will also take your questions.
We have with us today Ms. Hu Jianping, deputy director of the Department of Market System Development of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC); Mr. Chen Xu, market inspector at the State Administration for Market Regulation; Mr. He Qinghua, class-I counsel of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control of the National Health Commission (NHC); and Mr. Zhang Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Department of Food Safety Standards, Monitoring and Evaluation of the NHC.
First, I will report on the COVID-19 situation in China.
On July 2, 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, reported five new confirmed cases of infections — three inbound cases and two domestic ones — and one new suspected case in Beijing, but no deaths.
12 patients were discharged from hospital after recovering, and 453 people who had been in close contact with infected persons were deemed no longer in need of medical observation. The number of serious cases increased from that of the previous day by one.
A total of 69 inbound cases are being treated, and there remain one suspected case from abroad. As of July 2, the Chinese mainland reported a total of 1,923 inbound cases and no deaths. Among them, 1,854 patients had 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 24:00 on July 2, there still remained 409 confirmed cases. In all, 78,499 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 83,542, while six suspected cases were still under observation. A total of 763,077 people had been identified as having had close contact with infected patients, and 5,589 were still undergoing medical observation.
On July 2, the 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported four new asymptomatic cases. None have become confirmed cases. Six people were removed from further medical observation. A total of 97 asymptomatic cases remained under medical observation.
A total of 1,736 confirmed cases so far have been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR and Taiwan. The breakdown is 1,242 in Hong Kong, 46 in Macao, and 448 in Taiwan.
In the past week, 60 patients have been discharged after recovery, an increase of 46% from the previous week. It is necessary to continue to carefully implement regular prevention and control measures, strengthen medical treatment, and help more patients recover from the disease. Such is the current state of the epidemic.
Hu Qiangqiang:
Now, we will move on to your questions. Please only raise questions centering on the theme of today's press conference, and firstly identify your news outlet.
