Chinese authorities urged strict measures to prevent the return of a domestic outbreak while controlling the import of novel coronavirus disease at a meeting on March 26.

Premier Li Keqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and also head of the leading group on novel coronavirus prevention and control, chaired the meeting.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, also attended the meeting.

The situation of the outbreak is still complex and severe, which must be comprehensively evaluated and should not be taken lightly, those at the meeting said, adding that further efforts should be taken to control the import of novel coronavirus disease and prevent the return of a domestic outbreak at the same time.

It also was said that a mechanism unifying emergency response and normalized prevention should be improved.

Those at the meeting said the country must stick to accurate prevention and control of domestic outbreak, while taking firm, practical and detailed measures to prevent cross-border import and export of the disease.

Orderly resumption of work and production should be promoted while continuing reasonable and accurate prevention and control of the epidemic.

The important achievements in epidemic prevention and control in Wuhan city and Central China’s Hubei province in the current stage must be consolidated, those at the meeting stressed, and they noted high-level medical forces for treating critically ill patients will be retained in Wuhan, to maximize the cure rate and reduce the mortality rate.

Medical forces should stick to strict discharge standards, and strengthen follow-up and health management of cured patients.

Public health teams should go deep into the community, identify the sources of each newly diagnosed, suspected and asymptomatic case, and conduct medical management to find the key, weakness and hidden dangers of prevention and control work.

Local governments should implement various prevention and control measures to prevent the epidemic from returning, give full play to the role of medical institutions in conducting pre-checks in a fever clinic, and the role of the unknown pneumonia monitoring system.

Effective experience in resuming work, production and school should be promoted.

Health monitoring and inspection should be conducted, facilitating instant and accurate management and control of the population and places that may be potentially infected.

The measures of early detection, reporting, quarantine and medical treatment must be strictly enforced, the information should be released in an open and transparent way, and no omission or concealment of information is allowed.

Follow-up caring for and helping vulnerable groups also were stressed at the meeting.

As the pandemic overseas increases, China is facing stronger pressure to prevent imported cases. Thus the country should tighten the management of passengers entering the Chinese border, those at the meeting pointed out.

Measures to prevent the import and export of COVID-19 cases will be further strengthened. Meanwhile China will provide overseas citizens with anti-epidemic materials and offer special assistance to those in trouble.

Local governments should perform their duties in preventing cases, imported or exported through land and waterway transport, and implement measures to suspend cross-border international road transportation and enhance management on international waterway transportation.

Provincial governments should take on quarantine measures for those entering the border through land ports in their administration, except residents living at the border, diplomats, and people engaging in important trade and economic, scientific and technological cooperation.

On the premise of guaranteeing unimpeded freight transportation, measures to control and prevent COVID-19 must be carried out for drivers of freight vehicles. And foreign freight vehicles entering the border should unload at the port, unless the goods cannot be moved midway.

Entry and exit management also will be enhanced for residents living at the border.

Enterprises in the shipping and fishing industries should undertake prevention and control responsibilities and scale up quarantine checks for international ships upon arrival.

China will enhance cooperation with neighbor countries in epidemic control. Border areas will receive guidance on epidemic control and support in materials, technologies, and human resources to improve border control and block illegal entries.

Ding Xuexiang, Huang Kunming, Cai Qi, Wang Yi, Xiao Jie and Zhao Kezhi, members of the leading group, also attended the meeting.