Leading group urges quicker steps to send medical professionals to Wuhan

A meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called for all-out efforts to reduce the mortality rate from novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, with more targeted measures to treat patients in severe and critical condition.

The meeting of the leading group of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on coping with the outbreak also underlined the significance of improving medical treatment in the city and raising the recovery rate.

It called for quicker steps to send medical professionals to the city, as well as facilities such as heart-lung machines, along with more targeted measures to scale up treatment for patients in a severe and critical condition.

Patients with mild symptoms must be given timely medical care and treatment to prevent them from becoming severe cases, said a statement released after the meeting.

Authorities in Wuhan must better implement measures to monitor communities for cases of infection and close loopholes in epidemic control and prevention at the community level to cut the sources and transmission paths of the outbreak, the statement said.

The meeting required optimized measures in releasing information on the epidemic to ensure greater transparency and no cover-ups. Communication with the public must be stepped up to heed their opinions and respond to their concerns.

It urged continuous efforts by the State Council coordinated mechanism on epidemic control and prevention to ensure the supply of medical resources and daily necessities in Hubei province and Wuhan, its capital city, adding that the central financial authorities will boost support to the area.

Hubei and Wuhan must ensure a smooth logistical channel to ensure that daily necessities can be delivered to communities and guarantee the living standards of the people, the statement said.

The meeting reiterated the importance of adopting differentiated control and prevention strategies based on different counties and districts in coordinating epidemic control and socio-economic development in regions outside Hubei province.

The authorities must offer guidance to key groups such as the elderly, pregnant women, mothers of newborn babies and students on protecting themselves against the epidemic, and come up with better epidemic control plans in venues such as offices, supermarkets and public transport, the statement said.

It called for more meticulous control and prevention measures at medical institutions and industrial and construction enterprises, it added.

Participants at the meeting also stressed that businesses must resume operations and the normal life of the public must be restored based on adequate protection measures with the utmost efforts being made to prevent infection.