Coronavirus pandemic | Beijing announces wearing masks outdoors not necessary

Beijing has done away with the guideline that residents should wear masks while on outdoors, the first city in China and perhaps in the world to do so in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

PTI

May 17, 2020 / 16:56 IST

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Beijing has done away with the guideline that residents should wear masks while on outdoors, the first city in China and perhaps in the world to do so in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, signalling that the coronavirus is under control in the Chinese capital.

After months of wearing masks to prevent virus infection risks, people can now breathe freely outside without a mask in Beijing, state-run China Daily reported, citing the new guidelines announced by the Beijing Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on Sunday.

The centre said people don't need to wear masks outside, but still should avoid close contact with others.

It also encourages the public to take some outdoor exercise when the weather is good, which is helpful to increase the quality of life and health, the report said.

The announcement comes ahead of China's Parliament -- the National People's Congress (NPC) -- all set to hold its postponed annual session on May 22 amid a steady decline in the coronavirus cases in the country.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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