Page:Fighting Covid-19-China in Action (2020).pdf/20

 He called for a greater effort to marshal the resources of the whole country to reinforce Wuhan and Hubei. He emphasized the need to make an accurate assessment of the epidemic dynamics and the conditions facing economic and social development, and focus on the main problems and the key elements of these problems, so as to ensure an overall victory in the battle against the virus, and achieve the goals of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and of the country's poverty alleviation.

(8) February 27: The daily figure for new cases in Hubei other than Wuhan, and in other places on the mainland outside Hubei, both dropped to single digits for the first time.

(9) February 28: Through its Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, the State Council released Notice on Furthering Differentiated, Region-specific and Tiered Prevention and Control Measures.

(10) February 29: The WHO-China Joint Mission on Covid-19 released a report about its field study trip in China. The report described China's control efforts. It said, "In the face of a previously unknown virus, China has rolled out perhaps the most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history... As striking, has been the uncompromising rigor of strategy application that proved to be a hallmark in every setting and context where it was examined... Achieving China's exceptional coverage with and adherence to these containment measures has only been possible due to the deep commitment of the Chinese people to collective action in the face of this common threat. At a community level this is reflected in the remarkable solidarity of provinces and cities in support of the most vulnerable populations and communities."

(11) March 2: President Xi inspected several scientific institutions in Beijing, observing their research and development on Covid-19 prevention and control. He said that this work must be taken as a major and pressing task and proceed as speedily as possible, while abiding by the rules of science and ensuring safety, so as to provide strong scientific and technological support for overcoming the epidemic.

Xi Jinping pointed out that saving as many lives as possible, by every possible means, was the number one priority. Research on and development of medicines and medical equipment should be integrated with clinical treatment, with the twin goals of raising the cure rate and lowering the fatality rate. Development of vaccines should be expedited through multiple approaches, so as to make them available for clinical trial and application as quickly as possible.

The president said that biosecurity should be an important part of the holistic approach to national security, and he called for efforts to enhance China's scientific research capacity regarding epidemic prevention and control