India's virus surge sounds alarm for the world

Precautionary measures

Feng Zijian, deputy director-general of the China CDC, said during an interview with Xinhua News Agency that China has implemented rigorous and consistent precautionary measures to ward off the risk of imported cases, and they have been effective and will continue to work if they are enforced strictly.

"As a result, the new wave of outbreaks in India will not exert much impact in China overall," he said. "But we must remain highly vigilant due to the mounting pressure from foreign outbreaks."

Feng added that China and India, the two most populous countries in the world, have challenges to vaccinating at least 70 percent of their populations to establish herd immunity.

Nearly 244 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in China as of Wednesday, the National Health Commission reported. It said on Thursday that the national vaccination campaigns will not be suspended during the upcoming five-day holiday.

"We must actively push for mass vaccination," Feng said. "It is also suggested that India expedite vaccination coverage because mass inoculation is the only way to build an immunity barrier, as well as lessen or eradicate repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak at the root," he said.

China had reported no new domestic infections for 13 consecutive days as of Wednesday, officials said. But the public is urged to stick to regular virus control measures during the holiday.

Li Huaqiang, deputy director of the Ministry of Transport's transportation services department, said on Thursday that about 265 million passenger trips were expected during the upcoming holiday, close to the total recorded in 2019.