Commentary: Hard-won progress in fighting COVID-19 must not go to waste

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's megacity of Shanghai on Tuesday announced that it has cut off the community transmission of COVID-19 in all its 16 districts.

This latest progress in containing the virus again shows that China must unswervingly implement its epidemic response policy and consolidate its gains in the fight against COVID-19.

The global fight against the pandemic is still ongoing, the novel coronavirus keeps mutating, and mounting uncertainties still lie ahead. This all points to the importance of keeping a clear head about the complex and arduous nature of the battle.

The policy of "preventing imported cases and domestic resurgences" and the dynamic zero-COVID approach must be firmly carried out.

Any tendency to let our guard down, become weary of the fight, take chances, and slacken efforts must be rejected. The hard-won progress China has made against the epidemic must not, under any circumstances, go to waste.

Nearly 15 million deaths globally were directly or indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of 2021, according to the estimates of the World Health Organization.

As a developing country with a population of 1.4 billion, China has managed to stand out with the lowest coronavirus infection and fatality rates globally. This is a clear sign of the institutional strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

China has protected the health and safety of its people to the greatest extent possible while trying its best to minimize the epidemic's impact on development.

China's COVID-19 response measures are based on its national conditions.

It is a populous country with a large number of elderly people, unbalanced regional development, and generally inadequate medical resources. The gap still exists between China and developed countries in terms of the per capita medical resources and medical technology levels.

If China doesn't focus its strength and resources on preventive measures such as nucleic acid testing and isolation, a lot of pressure will be placed on the shoulders of the disease treatment circles. This would threaten the safety of patients with underlying medical conditions, the elderly, children and pregnant women, among others.

In this scenario, a large number of severe COVID-19 cases and deaths would occur and the steady economic and social development would be seriously undermined. China will never allow this to happen.

As long as the decisions and plans made by the central authorities are firmly implemented, the institutional strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics are given a full play, and the people are pooling their efforts, China will surely win the battle against COVID-19.