10 key phrases in China's fight against COVID-19
Test, isolate and treat
After the outbreak emerged, Chinese authorities ordered all-out efforts to provide tests and treatment for all those in need, and isolate confirmed and suspected cases as well as close contacts of confirmed cases.
In early February, under the guidance of the central government work team, authorities in Wuhan intensified efforts to identify all cases and close contacts in residential communities and sent them to designated hospitals and other facilities for treatment or medical observation under isolation.
In about two weeks, the authorities in Wuhan had inspected 4.2 million households in the city and identified all confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases and close contacts of confirmed patients. They were all sent to hospitals and other designated facilities.
Testing is also crucial to contain the virus from spreading.
Initially, there was a shortage of viral testing kits in Hubei, which was reversed after authorities expanded the list of institutes certified to conduct such tests by allowing P2 biosafety labs, qualified major hospitals, centers for disease control and prevention and professional testing institutes could carry out reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to provide nucleic acid tests.
As a result, daily testing capacity in Hubei province increased from 300 samples in the beginning of the outbreak to more than 20,000, thus all suspected cases could receive tests in a timely fashion.
