Hubei to lower public-health emergency status Saturday

Hubei, the hardest-hit province by the COVID-19 in the country, will lower its public health emergency response level from Level 2 to Level 3 starting from Saturday — the second-lowest level in a four-tier system — according to a senior official from the provincial government.

The management of residential communities across the province will be relaxed and public venues will be reopened step by step, Yang Yunyan, deputy governor of Hubei province, said at a news briefing in provincial capital Wuhan on Friday.

"For communities without existing confirmed cases, they will be allowed to open more entrances," he said. "Residents can enter by showing health QR codes, and don’t need temperature checks."

He added public places, including office and business buildings, shopping malls, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and produce markets can be gradually opened to the public with epidemic control and prevention measures in place, such as QR codes which indicate health status and temperature checks.

Venues like gardens, tourist spots, gyms, libraries, museums and galleries, will open with limits, while enclosed spaces without proper ventilation, such as cinemas, bars, KTVs and indoor swimming pools, can open only by meeting the assessments of local governments, Yang noted.

He said the decision was made on the basis of the improved control and prevention of the novel coronavirus epidemic across the province.

The province reported no new cases since May 18, and seven numbers - newly reported confirmed cases, suspected cases, asymptomatic cases, deaths, existing confirmed cases and suspected cases, as well as cases imported from overseas - have held steady at zero. The province has been listed as a low-risk region since June 2.