Coronavirus: China lowers Hubei province's emergency response level

China will lower its COVID-19 emergency response from the highest level to the second-highest in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly virus outbreak, on Saturday, as most tourist sites in the country were opened for May Day holidays.

The lowering of the emergency level shows a major breakthrough in Hubei's prevention and control against COVID-19, but it does not mean that Hubei has downgraded its risk alert or decreased work intensity against the epidemic, Vice-Governor of Hubei Yang Yunyan told the media on Friday.

After more than three months of precise and tight prevention and control, the virus spread is "basically cut off" in Hubei, Yang said.

Hubei province was locked down for three months since January 23. Now, the lockdown has been lifted and people are allowed to travel after health checks.

"The unprecedented emergency measures during the initial phase have basically cut off the spread of the novel coronavirus," Yang said.

"In line with national regulations and the provincial contingency plan, Hubei has basically met the condition to lower the emergency response level," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the governor as saying.

The emergency level was downgraded as the province did not report new COVID-19 cases in the last 27 days. However, Hubei province has reported 631 asymptomatic coronavirus in the period.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Friday said 25 new asymptomatic cases were reported in the country, taking the total tally to 981, including 115 from abroad, who were still under medical observation.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. They are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others.

Hubei has so far reported 68,128 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,333 in Wuhan.

With the confirmed cases steadily declining in China, including in Wuhan, the government decided to resume normal operations all over the country. However, the steady rise in asymptomatic cases continues to be a cause of concern.

The NHC in its Friday report said 12 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Thursday, of which six were imported.

The death toll in the country remained at 4,633 as no new fatalities were reported on Thursday, it said.

As of Thursday, the overall confirmed cases in China had reached 82,874, including 599 patients who were still being treated and 77,642 people discharged after recovery, it said.

Also, China has a total of 1,670 imported cases of which 505 were being treated with seven in severe conditions, the NHC said.

Meanwhile, a high-level leading group headed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang which is supervising the operations to contain the coronavirus since January directed the officials to work out a well-calibrated response for the international Labour Day holiday.

China observes the May Day with a five-day official holiday during which over 100 million people are expected to travel as the country has eased travel restrictions in recent weeks.

China on Friday opened all its tourist sites including the Forbidden city in Beijing for tourists.

Local governments must have sound contingency plans and enhance emergency preparedness. Any infection, once detected, must be promptly handled with targeted measures, and the transmission route be cut off as quickly as possible. Information should be released in a fact-based, open and transparent manner. No cover-up, under-reporting or delay of the disclosure will be allowed," it said.

The coronavirus, which first surfaced in Wuhan last December, has claimed over 230,000 lives across the world.

The Asian powerhouse is under severe international pressure to come clean on the origins of the coronavirus.