President Xi Jinping presented medals to four outstanding individuals in China's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic on Tuesday.

In the face of the sudden outbreak, Zhong Nanshan, a leading respiratory disease expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, did not hesitate to go to Wuhan, where he advised the public to avoid traveling unless necessary on Jan 18.

Due to the Spring Festival travel rush, he could not secure a seat ticket on a high-speed train. The 84-year-old expert could only doze in the dining coach, a scene that may still be vivid in the memory of many.

Two days later, after careful investigation, Zhong confirmed human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus, sounding an alarm to the public in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Zhong and a group of other experts who made a field trip to Wuhan suggested strict control of movement in and out of the city to curb the spread of the virus. On Jan 23, Wuhan was put on lockdown, which was estimated by a report in Science magazine to have reduced the number of infected people in China by more than 700,000.

He also led compiling the diagnosis and treatment protocols for COVID-19 patients, which offered guidance for medical workers fighting the disease.