Zhengzhou gradually resuming normal life

Zhengzhou, Henan province, will gradually resume normal life and work starting on Tuesday, according to a notice by local authorities.

The city will remove some controls on areas that had transmission risks recently and further adjust measures so that normal production and life can be restored in an orderly manner, according to a notice by Zhengzhou's office of COVID-19 prevention and control.

Henan reported 13 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 91 asymptomatic carriers on Monday, most of whom are in Zhengzhou and were found in quarantine centers or in controlled areas, according to the provincial health commission on Tuesday.

Except for areas designated as high or medium risk, the city has used temporary lockdowns and temporary controlled zones for preventing spillover spread, according to officials at a news conference on Oct 27.

All temporary controlled zones designated by counties or districts in Zhengzhou will be removed, the notice said. A few places, including a high-tech development zone, will continue to be controlled but with certain adjustments.

The city will precisely designate areas of transmission risk in residential communities or specific buildings, it added.

Except for those areas, all other places in the city will gradually resume normal production and life, with regular prevention and control measures in place, the notice said.

Residents are required to have a negative result obtained within 24 hours if they want to go out.

"The designation of areas of risk should be scientific and specific. We should not lock down a whole residential community for a long time just because it has certain infections," a top official said at a meeting about the pandemic on Monday night.

The province's top leadership warned of possible outbreaks in the coming months.

Under the guidance of the dynamic zero-COVID policy, the province should improve epidemic prevention and control measures and be prepared for possible outbreaks during the coming winter and spring, said Lou Yangsheng, the province's Party chief, Henan Daily reported.

Experts from hospitals in Zhengzhou said the disease tends to go away on its own without treatment. Certain medicines have been provided, including Lianhuaqingwen capsules, a compound of herbal medicine for treating the common cold and flu.