China will speed up the resumption of delivery services to aid the nation’s epidemic control and prevention efforts and make sure people can get deliveries of daily necessities amid the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior transport official said.

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday stressed unremitting efforts in the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic and coordination in advancing economic and social development.

At the press briefing given by the State Council inter-agency task force on COVID-19 outbreak on the afternoon of 23 February, Mi Feng, an NHC spokesperson, said that between 00:00 and 24:00, 22 February, 18 confirmed cases, 251 suspected cases and 1 fatal case were newly reported outside Hubei and the number of severe cases down by 45. New confirmed cases dropped below five or to zero in all provinces other than Hubei. The number of new confirmed cases outside Hubei dropped from the Peak of 890 to 18 on 22 February, showing a fluctuating downward trend. 16 provinces and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps haven’t seen any new confirmed cases for more than two consecutive days.

On the afternoon of 22 February, at the 27th local press briefing on the epidemic control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Zhejiang Province, Song Zhiheng, deputy head of the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province, said that the first batch of vaccines has successfully induced antibody production and entered the stage of animal test. The cultivation of recombinant virus for the development of recombinant adenovirus vector vaccine has started, and animal test will begin soon. In Zhejiang Province, scientists are already conducting vaccine research based on the fourth generation of the coronavirus, and they are now racing against time to seek breakthroughs. Despite these positive developments, it is important to recognize that there is a long R&D cycle for vaccines and the law of science must be respected to make sure that the research process is strictly science-based and safe.