The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is of the utmost importance when it comes to tracing novel coronavirus infections and cutting the transmission chains of the virus.

It is in fact legally binding for individuals to provide truthful details of where they have been should they be confirmed to be infected with the virus or to have been in close proximity to the transmission route of the virus. Giving precise details of where one has been in a specific period of time may make a crucial difference to efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

However, there are always some people who try to shirk that legal and moral obligation. One elderly woman has already been arrested for flouting this requirement. She left her residential neighborhood in Nanjing, which had been placed in lockdown after infections were identified there in late July, without notifying the relevant departments. She concealed the details of her travel and frequent visits to public venues in the city of Yangzhou, also in Jiangsu province. As a result, nearly 600 cases have been reported in Yangzhou in more than three weeks.

In another case, a family in the city of Shangqiu, Henan province, also concealed the details of where they had been until four family members were confirmed to be infected with the virus. The wife and daughter of the family went to a shopping mall where a case was confirmed. Having been in close contact with a person confirmed to be infected, they should have reported the details of their travel to the local community prevention and control officers. But they did not.

As a result, some localities in the city have been designated as high-risk or medium-level risk areas and some highways have been closed.

Had the elderly woman in Nanjing abided by the rules and not left her community under lockdown, nearly 600 residents in Yangzhou would not have been infected.

Had the family in Shangqiu reported their travel details immediately after they got to know about the confirmed case in the shopping mall they visited, that city would have been spared the need to implement strict prevention and control restrictions.

Every individual is an important link in the prevention and control net China has established to stop the spread of the virus. The cases above show that everyone needs to have a strong sense of personal responsibility to keep the net intact. Doing a good job in keeping oneself and others safe from the virus is a contribution we should all make to the fight against the pandemic.

People need to know that it is a crime to try and conceal where they have been if there is the possibility they might have come into contact with the virus. They should be truthful about their whereabouts so as not to expose more people to the threat of the virus.