BEIJING — Community-based measures are the foundation of epidemic prevention and control in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, a civil affairs official said on Jan 31.

Chen Yueliang, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told a press conference held in Beijing that almost every community in China has a health service center with medical personnel leading the prevention and control work.

The official stressed strengthening the management of community service facilities and various activities. The following points were underlined.

— Party organizations and members at the primary level should play the vanguard roles, implementing prevention and control measures to cover each household and person within a community.

— Give full play to community organizations and broadly mobilize the people including community staff, police, doctors as well as residents to work in a coordinated way.

— Community organizations should carry out strict screening in their communities and provide information on the epidemic situation as required on a daily basis.

— Strengthen the monitoring of those returning to their residence and establish a centralized medical observation mechanism if necessary.

— Further assist people living in hardship, in particular helping families with members in quarantine address practical difficulties.

— Commend outstanding community organizations, primary-level medical institutions, volunteers as well as residents in battling the epidemic to create a good social atmosphere.

The above requirements can be achieved through information technologies such as social media groups, mobile applications and service hotlines opened by local governments, Chen said.

Chinese health authorities announced on Jan 31 that 9,692 confirmed novel coronavirus cases had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps by the end of Jan 30. A total of 213 people have died of the disease.