Xi: Nation cannot afford complacency

He called for unrelenting epidemic containment measures in Hubei province even as it has switched to epidemic control and prevention efforts on a regular basis.

The CPC Central Committee has decided to send a liaison group to Hubei to step up guidance and support to follow-up containment efforts in the area, Xi said.

The liaison group must continue to offer guidance regarding the rehabilitation of recovered patients and their psychological counseling and press for the implementation of normalized containment efforts to prevent the importation of infections and a possible rebound of the outbreak, he said.

Xi stressed that authorities can afford zero complacency in their work on all fronts to consolidate the outcomes of epidemic containment, and must not undo all the efforts that have been made.

The liaison group must also push forward the enforcement of the many policies rolled out to support economic and social development in Hubei to help restore the normal order of life and production at an early date, he said.

The meeting also underlined the importance of summarizing and employing practices proved to be effective during the epidemic containment in Hubei and Wuhan and closing the gaps and strengthening the weak areas that have already been exposed.

The country must optimize its emergency management and patient treatment systems in coping with major outbreaks and in the area of public health, and, with an emphasis on prevention, innovate in the methods and ways to conduct health campaigns, said the statement.

It is also important to improve the environment in rural and urban areas, improve public health facilities, popularize health knowledge and promote a more civilized, healthy and greener lifestyle among the public, it added.