Facing the spread of the novel coronavirus that caused cases of pneumonia in some major Chinese cities and other Asian countries, the Chinese government has taken concrete action to prevent large scale outbreaks of the respiratory epidemic ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.
Wuhan Tuesday has strengthened the control of personnel entering and leaving the city. Local tourist groups are banned from traveling outside of the city, and the public security traffic management department will conduct random checks on private vehicles entering and leaving Wuhan to check whether the trunks carry live birds and wild animals.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered resolute efforts to curb the virus spread and urged governments and departments at all levels to put the health and safety of the people first, especially during a time when China is experiencing huge mobility during the Spring Festival holiday. Transport authorities around the country have carried out strict measures to prevent the spread of the disease. Local governments rolled out strict prevention and control plans, while paying all efforts to treat the infected and timely releasing the latest relevant information.
The countermeasures rose to the national level at an early stage. Experts assigned by the National Health Commission arrived in Wuhan to examine and verify the situation on December 30, 2019. On January 9, 2020, preliminary lab results showed a new type of coronavirus had caused the viral pneumonia in Wuhan. The National Health Commission then activated nationwide daily report mechanisms and supplied nucleic acid testing kits to strengthen the surveillance.
The World Health Organization (WHO) received the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus shared by China, which according to WHO is of great importance for developing specific diagnostic kits. China has strong public health capacity and resources to respond to and manage respiratory disease outbreaks in addition to treating patients in care and isolating new cases as they are identified, the organization commented.
As some observers had said, the country has learned its lesson from the 2003 SARS outbreak. As China has largely improved its infectious diseases research capabilities and mobilized hospital resources in surveillance and diagnosis, there is no need to panic. "We have confidence in controlling the new coronavirus," said Zhong Nanshan, the widely respected expert who discovered the SARS virus in 2003.
After receiving notifications of related cases from other countries, China has maintained close communication and strengthened cooperation with all parties through bilateral and multilateral channels. China will join hands with all parties to cope with the novel coronavirus pneumonia and guard regional and global health.