Important Updates on COVID-19 (22nd April 2020)

1. On 21^st April, Chinese mainland reported 30 new confirmed cases, 23 of which were imported from abroad. Hubei reported 0 new infection. 28 patients were released after being cured. The latest Chinese mainland tally shows 82,788 confirmed cases and 4,632 fatalities.

  Chinese mainland has reported 1,610 cases of imported confirmed infections and 0 death. There still remained 811 confirmed cases and 30 suspected cases.

2. On-site job fair held in Wuhan

  An on-site job fair was held in Wuhan on Tuesday with strict epidemic prevention measures. Over 1,600 job vacancies from more than 40 enterprises were offered to applicants, involving a variety of industries like food, pharmaceuticals, logistics, manufacturing, garment, agriculture, etc. To offset COVID-19’s impact on the job market, China has taken measures to ensure employment and promote work resumption, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

3. Wuhan, Los Angeles share experience on reopening via video

  The central Chinese city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, and the western U.S. city of Los Angeles held a video conference on Tuesday to share experience on reopening cities and resuming business under the premise of effective prevention and control of the pandemic. Thorough talks between principal officials of both municipal governments and other areas lasted almost two hours and yielded good results. In the meantime, presidents of Wuhan University and Ohio State University also held a video conference to discuss campus management during the pandemic.

4. Power surge suggests light at the end of tunnel

  China’s electricity consumption has long been a closely-watched indicator. The lights are slowly coming back on for China’s economy after its coronavirus lockdown, with electricity generation and consumption both rising in the first part of April compared with a year earlier. Power generation climbed 1.2 per cent in the first 15 days of April, compared to a 4.6 per cent decline in March and a 6.8 per cent slump over the first quarter. Power consumption rose by 1.5 per cent in the first 10 days of April, after a 4.2 per cent fall in March and a 10.1 per cent drop in February, according to an online press briefing by the National Development and Reform Commission.

5. Jack Ma launches 3^rd batch of donations to Africa

  The Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation announced on Monday that they are cooperating with the African Union to launch the third batch of African emergency supplies donations. This batch of emergency anti-epidemic materials includes 4.6m masks, 500k swabs and test kits, 300 ventilators, 200k clothing sets, 200k face shields, 2k thermal guns, 100 body temperature scanners and 500k pairs of gloves.

6. WHO: coronavirus not lab-made in China

  All evidence has indicated that the coronavirus likely originated in bats and was not manipulated or constructed in a lab, said the WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib. She refuted recent comments that the virus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, central China, saying the available evidence showed that the virus was not manipulated by humans in a lab or somewhere else. “It’s probable, likely, that the virus is of animal origin,” she said, adding that it was not clear how the virus spread to humans.

*Report: China’s fight against COVID-19 (full text):