Tried and tested measures mean rebound can be checked

The novel coronavirus situation in Beijing and some places elsewhere in the country such as Dalian, Liaoning province, has taken a turn for the worse in recent days, with a number of sporadic locally transmitted cases being reported.

This has prompted local authorities to act in a “resolute and rigorous” manner — for example, by canceling big gatherings such as sports events and temple fairs scheduled for the Lunar New Year, and asking cinemas and museums to operate at 75 percent capacity — in a bid to contain the latest emergences of the virus.

The country has devised a set of effective prevention and control measures — early detection, early reporting, early quarantine and early treatment — in its fight against the epidemic. Yet this time it seems to be facing a more challenging and seemingly more perilous situation as the origin of many infections are yet to be traced.

Reports of a more contagious virus variant, first identified in England, also add to the urgency of containing the latest infections. Cases of the more easily transmissible strain of the virus have already been confirmed in neighboring countries such as the Republic of Korea, putting more pressure on China to guard against imported cases.

Yet despite all this, there is no need for panic. Not only because the experience the country has accumulated over the past year should shore up confidence that the nation can tame the virus no matter where and how it emerges, but also because vaccines, whose efficacy has been proved, are already on their way.

In the initial phase of its inoculation program, China is planning to vaccinate 50 million people in the high-priority group against the novel coronavirus by mid-February.

The arrival of vaccines means the world is already glimpsing light at the end of the tunnel in its fight against the pandemic, but until a final victory is achieved there should be no lapses in vigilance and the implementation of prevention and control measures must be rigorous.

There can be no denying that we are still in a state of war against this common enemy, and the most effective weapons we can lay our hands on, apart from effective vaccines, are social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing, among other precautions.

We must apply them relentlessly, taking no chances. Each one of us has to do his or her little bit by practicing care and self-discipline, yet with the conviction that by acting together, we shall prevail.