China's reaction to COVID-19 sets blueprint for future

Chinese people have borne the minimum influence of the COVID-19 epidemic in terms of possibility of infection and mortality, said a senior official.

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference on Thursday, in Beijing, that though other nations in the world have been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic in past three years, Chinese people have received minimum influence in comparison.

He cited figures from the World Health Organization that as of Monday, the United States has reported 95,260,865 confirmed cases, among which 1,050,195 died from the novel coronavirus. However, the Chinese mainland reported 1,009,114 cases, including confirmed and asymptomatic, with the death toll of about 5,226.

"That means 70 people out of every 100,000 people in the Chinese mainland got infected by the COVID-19, with the infection rate about 1/483 of that in the US. The death rate due to COVID-19 is 0.4 people out of every 100,000 in the Chinese mainland, making it 1/785 of that in the US," he said.

He also compared China's infection and death rates with global numbers.

"The Chinese population takes up 18.32 percent of the world's total population, but the infection cases contribute to 0.16 percent of the world's total number," he added. "If we calculate the infection rate by every 100,000 people, the infection rate in the Chinese mainland is 1/112 of the world's total number and the death rate is 1/229 of the world's figures."

"China is undoubtedly a good example in COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention. We have no reason to not be confident or distrusting of our epidemic control policies," he said.