BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese health official Thursday outlined measures to honor medical personnel who died fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic as martyrs in a timely manner.

File photo: CGTN

Duan Yong, deputy director of the personnel department of the National Health Commission, required local health agency chiefs to take overall responsibility for related work at a press conference.

Local agencies were asked to promptly apply for the honor of martyr for deceased medical staff to the veteran's affairs authorities, comfort the families of the deceased and solve their difficulties, as well as publicize the stories of those who sacrificed their lives during the epidemic.

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission jointly announced a plan earlier this week to honor deceased medical workers and other personnel fighting the epidemic as martyrs.

The plan covers the deceased who had direct contact with suspected or confirmed cases and were infected with the virus when performing their duties including diagnosis, treatment, nursing, nosocomial infection control, specimen collection, pathogen detection and patient transfer, among others.