People wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus walk up a pedestrian overpass in the central business district in Beijing, capital of China, Sept 2, 2020. (MARK SCHIEFELBEIN / AP)
The World Health Organization applauded on Monday China's success in combating the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of a national meeting in Beijing to commend role models in that fight.
President Xi Jinping presented medals to outstanding individuals, and made a speech at the meeting in the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday morning.
READ MORE: Xi presents medals to COVID fighters
China has reported 20 consecutive days without local transmission of infections, and the new cases have all been imported.
Our deepest congratulations go to the front-line healthcare workers in China and the population who work together tirelessly to bring the disease to this very low level.
Mike Ryan, Executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme
"Our deepest congratulations go to the front-line healthcare workers in China and the population who work together tirelessly to bring the disease to this very low level," Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said at a virtual news conference from Geneva.
Recalling the severe situation in Wuhan, Hubei province, and some other provinces early this year, Ryan highlighted the efforts of communities, scientific institutions, public health institutions and governments, as well as the cooperation and sustained commitment required to get the job done.
But he cautioned that "it's not over anywhere until it's over everywhere". He added that there is no room for complacency, and there is still the risk that the disease can flare up again.
Ryan encouraged countries that have been through the worst to continue to offer support to other nations, to offer advice and share lessons learned, to be partners, and to share their technology and their solidarity with the rest of the world.
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Asked about the WHO's comments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday that, faced with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the Communist Party of China united and led the Chinese people in a fierce battle against the pandemic and achieved important strategic success.
"It shows the CPC's strong leadership and most reliable backbone role, the huge advantage of China's State and governance system, the great power of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, the richness of Chinese civilization, and China as a responsible power," he said at a daily briefing in Beijing.
As the pandemic still rages internationally, Zhao said, China will continue to promote global cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, support the WHO in leading the global fight, share China's experience and assist countries and regions with weak capacities.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on the COVID-19 pandemic, who spent two weeks in China during the outbreak early this year, said people need to celebrate where they can, but, "We are not out of the woods; we do have a long way to go".
Van Kerkhove asked people to celebrate the success safely. "Make sure that any type of gatherings that happen are done in a very safe way, when you still have your physical distancing, all the measures in place," she said.
She echoed the words of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said on Monday that countries need to invest in their healthcare systems.
Van Kerkhove praised China's public health infrastructure, saying there is a system in place to deal with infectious disease outbreaks, a system for surveillance and a ready, trained workforce for tracing cases, testing, isolation, quarantine and care for patients with both severe and mild symptoms.
"This entire system that was in place, that was activated in China, has been activated in many countries now," said Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist from the United States.
Bruce Aylward, a Canadian physician and epidemiologist who was the co-head of the first WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19, agreed, noting the public health infrastructure at all levels in China.
Aylward said he found it particularly striking that China is able to transmit national guidance to more than 1 billion people every week and is able to keep people well-informed.
READ MORE: WHO expert: China has taught us lessons
What struck him mostly, he said, was the "sense of individual responsibility that we saw in the Chinese people", citing their strict observation of social distancing in hotels, trains, restaurants and various places.
"Their sense of responsibility for keeping the world safe, keeping their communities safe, for doing the right thing, was probably the most striking thing that we saw－that sense of collective responsibility," Aylward said.
