The National Health Commission of China announced on Monday that, for the first time in about two months, the continent has reported no new cases of COVID-19 transmitted locally.
Reuters reported that the country registered a total of 14 new cases on Sunday, but it was determined that infections were brought in from abroad. The report also said that Beijing does not count asymptomatic cases.
China has given broader approval for the domestic Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, expanding those who can receive it beyond the high-risk and priority groups already allowed under an emergency authorization.
There has been speculation about COVID-19 numbers being announced by China compared to the rest of the world. For example, the US announced fewer than 100,000 cases on Sunday. The Chinese government was widely accused of minimizing the virus when it left Wuhan in late 2019 and of trying to hide its origin and suppress its numbers.
Stanley Rosen, a professor at the University of Southern California specializing in Chinese politics, told Fox News last week that any inaccuracies would likely come from local officials who report to the central government.
“I think that even though the statistics are not entirely accurate, they suggest that China is doing a reasonably good job of controlling new outbreaks,” he said.
Brie Stimson of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report