WUHAN — Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, is combing communities to ensure every confirmed or suspected patient is located and attended to as a senior official vowed to nail any official deserter "to history's pillar of shame".

A conference on epidemic control on Feb 6 ordered the megacity with a population of over 10 million to make all-out efforts to locate "four categories of people" — patients confirmed or suspected to be infected with the virus, their close contacts and patients with fever.

Once identified, these people must be timely treated or placed in quarantine, the conference said, adding that "no family or individual shall be neglected."

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Feb 6 stressed the various prevention and control measures must be implemented in detail as in wartime.

While inspecting Jianghan district in Wuhan, Sun demanded officials at all levels prioritize the epidemic fight "as the most important and pressing task" and forego bureaucratism and practices of formalities for formalities' sake.

Any deserter in the fight will be forever nailed to history's pillar of shame, she said.