Passengers are seen at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, Hubei province, Oct 8, 2020. (Photo/Xinhua)
Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, is making all-out efforts ranging from upgrading fever clinics to expanding epidemiological investigation forces to cope with any possible COVID-19 outbreaks during the winter, city authorities said on Tuesday.
Health authorities in Wuhan, the city hit hardest by the COVID-19 epidemic in China earlier this year, have renovated fever clinics in 62 hospitals designated for COVID-19 treatment and have started building five infectious disease hospitals as part of efforts to guard against outbreaks this season, Zheng Yun, deputy director of the city's health commission, said at a news conference.
Efforts are also underway to help healthcare institutions improve their ability to conduct nucleic acid testing for the novel coronavirus, and all secondary general hospitals and centers for disease control and prevention in the city will be capable of conducting such tests before the end of the year, he said.
Meanwhile, the city is establishing a professional epidemic prevention and control force comprising 1,000 members, including epidemiologists, testing technicians and virus sterilization workers, to ensure they can live up to their duties in case of an outbreak.
Medical institutions in the city have also expanded reserves of anti-epidemic materials to ensure 30-day supplies of personal protective equipment at each site, Zheng said.
The city's health commission is also conducting pilot monitoring on the flu at 59 major hospitals in the city, and has intensified monitoring and analysis over respiratory infectious diseases prone to spread in winter, he said.
"We will further strengthen epidemic monitoring and early-warning measures, and improve emergency management 鈥
