Health authorities in Anhui Province had confirmed four locally transmitted COVID-19 cases as of 12 a.m. on May 14. Experts have arrived in the province to guide virus prevention and control, including epidemiological investigation and tracing. 

According to a press conference on epidemic control on May 15, a spokesperson of the National Health Commission said that the number of confirmed cases in the world has exceeded 5 million for four consecutive weeks, majorly from China's neighboring countries. Since May, 142 new imported cases have been reported in China, seeing an increase of mutated virus strains. 

Vaccination is one of the effective ways to control the current outbreak. As of May 10, the vaccination coverage rate in China had exceeded 23 percent. More people will become immune in the near future. COVID-19 is a global issue, which can be restrained only when all countries take appropriate safety measures. Only when global vaccine coverage reaches 70 percent or higher can this goal be realized.

This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Beijing Youth Daily on May 15  

(Print Edition Title: COVID-19 Control)