(Photo: Xinhua)

HEFEI, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to shore up weak spots in the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as the epidemic prevention and control have entered the most crucial stage.

"Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, remains the main battlefield," said Wang Hesheng, deputy head of the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference Saturday. "Improving admission and survival rates and reducing infection and fatality rates are still the most urgent tasks."

Currently, nine temporary hospitals with more than 6,960 beds have opened in Hubei, with 5,606 patients infected with the virus receiving treatment in these hospitals.

"Our confidence has grown with the increase of designated hospitals, temporary hospitals and isolation areas," said Wang Ying, a community worker in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

For other cities in Hubei Province facing the same challenges but with limited resources, over half of China's provincial-level regions have paired up with them, offering medical staff, equipment and supplies.

As of Feb. 14, a total of 217 medical teams with 25,633 medical workers had been sent to Hubei to help combat the epidemic, figures from the NHC show.

"Spring is coming, along with hope. Wuhan is going to win and we can go home together then," wrote Liu Yuan, a medical worker sent to help in one of the temporary hospitals in Wuhan, in her diary.

Nationwide, other regions across China have also taken tough, resolute and precise measures to curb the epidemic from the source.

In east China's Anhui Province, all close contacts of the confirmed infection cases have been placed under quarantine at designated places instead of at home and all of those under medical observation will receive nucleic acid testing.

Li, a close contact of a confirmed case in the provincial capital of Hefei, has checked into a new quarantine area, which offers single rooms, meals and psychological counseling services.

"I feel at ease here as my family is safe from infection," said Li.

According to the NHC, the daily number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases outside Hubei has dropped for 14 consecutive days since Feb. 3.

As the epidemic outbreak has entered a crucial stage, the prevention and control measures have also become more precise and scientific, which greatly enhances the efficiency of prevention, said Xu Hua, a professor at the School of Sociology and Political Science of Anhui University.

Chinese researchers have narrowed down their focus to a few existing drugs for clinical trials against COVID-19 and some have shown fairly good clinical efficacy.

East China's Shanghai Municipality and Zhejiang Province have formulated regulations to prohibit behaviors of concealing symptoms and violating quarantine since Feb. 7.

Great efforts have also been made to mitigate the shortage of medical supplies and daily necessities. "China has endeavored to combine epidemic prevention and production resumption, in an effort to meet the core demand," said Xu.

More than 76 percent of mask production and 77 percent of protective suit production in China's 22 provincial-level regions had been resumed by Feb. 10, according to Cong Liang, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Meanwhile, 94.6 percent of the country's major grain production and processing firms, as well as over 92 percent of more than 7,000 supermarket outlets in 34 large and medium-sized cities across the country, had also resumed operation by Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, respectively.

"The shelves filled with products give us a sense of security. We will weather the storm," said Wu Yan, a citizen in Hefei.