WUHAN — Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on April 16 underlined continued vigilance and participation by all in Hubei as the COVID-19 containment in the hard-hit province is turning into a normal work from a crisis response.

Sun, who also leads a central government group to oversee the COVID-19 control in Hubei, inspected the manufacturing of medical protective equipment and epidemic containment work in Hubei's Xiantao city.

At a non-woven fabric manufacturing company, she expressed appreciation for the efforts of many businesses in the province in timely resuming production despite difficulties such as lacking workers, raw materials and capitals.

Over 11 million N95 masks, 80 million surgical masks, and 3.7 million protective suits have been produced by these companies, which Sun said was an important contribution to epidemic control.

Priority should be given to meeting the needs of these manufacturers in terms of workers, capitals, logistics and material supplies to support them in boosting production capacity while implementing epidemic control measures, she said.

Visiting a neighborhood and a food street in the city, Sun stressed continued vigilance in epidemic control efforts in communities and public places and earnest implementation of all necessary measures including checking IDs, wearing masks and reducing gatherings.

The vice-premier also called on the public to strengthen their awareness of self-protection and self-management to maintain a healthy lifestyle.