Poverty-stricken counties designated low-risk areas for virus

The COVID-19 outbreak has had little impact on basic living necessities available to the poor and all poverty-stricken counties are low-risk areas, a poverty relief official said on Friday.

All 832 poor counties in the country are low-risk areas and the cases of registered poor have been cleared through now, said Chen Hongbo,director of the Policy and Regulations Department of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

The outbreak has affected the income of the poor but it has little effect on their basic living necessities and access to public services, Chen said.

Measures, including promoting employment, expanding products' distribution channels in poor areas and extending loan terms are in place to decrease the impact on poverty relief work, he said.

With more efforts, the goal of poverty alleviation will be achieved on schedule, he added.