China mandates indoor and outdoor masks in updated Covid-19 rules

its latest Covid-19 outbreak. Photo: EPA-EFE" />

Chinese health officials have said the spread of the coronavirus can be controlled as the country revised its guidelines for mask wearing in crowded venues, including outdoor areas, to battle the latest wave of Covid-19.

The country reported 47 local infections in five provinces on Friday, along with five asymptomatic cases, the lowest domestic case tally in two weeks.

“The Covid-19 risk in the country is overall controllable and it is rather unlikely that a large-scale outbreak on a national level will occur,” He Qinghua, a senior official with the National Health Commission, told a press conference in Beijing on Friday.

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He said 48 Chinese cities had reported a total of nearly 1,300 cases as of Thursday in the ongoing outbreak. But 36 of them had found no new patients in more than five days. Most cities had only reported “sporadic cases”, with the exception of Wuhan, the tourist city Zhangjiajie, and latest hotspot Yangzhou, he added.