Duties amid epidemic work clarified by Wuhan govt

Departments can take compulsory measures against those who do not comply with laws and regulations on epidemic prevention and control work, according to a decision made by the local legislature in Wuhan, Hubei province.

The document, passed by the Standing Committee of Wuhan People's Congress on Monday, aims to achieve the integrated governance of local regions, departments and industries. It clarified the duties of government departments, organizations and individuals in accordance with the laws to combat the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic.

It urged individuals to follow the provisions and regulations of epidemic prevention and control and conduct proper self-protection. People in public places must wear masks, keep an appropriate distance, and cooperate with temperature monitoring, checking, isolation observation and treatment. Those who have symptoms of cough and fever should report to local residents' committees.

For those who do not comply with epidemic prevention and control work, relevant departments can take compulsory measures against them, according to the decision.

Businesses providing public transport services, such as airlines, railways and urban public transport, and the operators of supermarkets, farmers' markets, banks and hotels were also required to take strict measures to ensure prevention and control work.

The document urged the city, district governments and its subordinated departments to fully perform their duties, and establish and improve the prevention and control system to strengthen the work of monitoring, screening, early warning, prevention and control.

The governments were asked to do detection, warning, reporting, isolation and treatment of the epidemic at the early stage, to achieve the goals of diagnosing and treating all confirmed patients, conducting nucleic acid tests for all suspected patients, testing all people with fever, isolating all people with close contact with those confirmed to have the virus, and ensuring all communities and villages are under 24-hour closed management.

The resident committees in communities and villages were urged to strictly implement the prevention and control measures, conducting the closed management measures and personnel screening through accurately collecting, registering and verifying the information of those entering or leaving the community and submitting the information in a timely manner.

Organizations or individuals violating relevant provisions and regulations and refusing to follow the decision from the novel coronavirus prevention and control command in city and district level will be punished, the decision said.

Those who do not cooperate with screening investigations, testing and quarantine and deliberately hide, fabricate or fail to disclose relevant information will also be penalized. If the case constitutes a crime, those involved would be investigated according to the law, and their illegal behavior would be included into the public credit information system, it said.

According to the document, the city or district governments can, in accordance with the law, urgently mobilize personnel or reserve materials, and temporarily requisition equipment, facilities, sites, means of transportation and other materials needed for the epidemic. They can also require enterprises to organize the production and supply the materials and daily necessities for epidemic prevention and control.

The local legislature also required the governments and departments to strengthen law enforcement such as public security management and market supervision, and strictly probe and punish all kinds of acts that drive up prices.

Those who resist epidemic prevention and control work, violently harm medical personnel, manufacture and sell counterfeit and shoddy epidemic prevention products, and spread rumors will be severely punished.

Public servants who fail to perform their duties, including abusing power, engaging in malpractice or fraud, or misappropriating relief funds or goods would be punished.

No departments or individuals should delay, omit, conceal or falsely report information about the epidemic, according to the decision. Fabricating or spreading false information about the epidemic, or requesting or spreading personal information irrelevant to epidemic prevention and control is prohibited.

Governments were required to strengthen safety protection, livelihood guarantees and humanistic care for front-line medical personnel, grassroots cadres, public security personnel and community workers.