State Council Inter-agency Task Force Press Briefing: Improving Community Control and Observation Protocols

The State Council inter-agency task force held a press conference on 11 April on improving community-level epidemic control.

According to Chen Yueliang, Director General in charge of community-level governance at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, enforcing control routines is now the first-order priority for communities. The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Health Commission will soon release joint guidelines for targeted and detailed community-level control and services. On top of setting low-, medium- and high-risk levels for different regions, the forthcoming guidelines will take a differentiated approach to communities with zero cases, sporadic cases, and cluster and community transmission. Specific protocols will be laid out for well-calibrated community-level control, services and public participation. Localities will optimize mechanisms for community-level response that comprises both emergency preparedness and epidemic control routines in accordance with the guidelines.

On protocols applied to people under home observation, Li Yongjin, Director of the Jinsong Community Healthcare Center in the Chaoyang District of Beijing shared their practice. For those returning to Beijing from overseas or other provinces, should symptoms emerge during medical observation at home or at designated places, they are asked to immediately report to their family doctors for evaluation. Those showing particular symptoms such as fever and cough will be transferred to designated hospitals for screening by a designated ambulance sent by the community healthcare center. Patients with common, chronic or frequently-occurring diseases will be diagnosed and treated in the community. Urgent, severe or critical cases will be transferred by designated vehicles and accompanied by carers to specialized hospitals for treatment. "As required, we collect throat swab specimens of people under quarantine, ensure closed-loop management during the quarantine, and provide medical treatment to those in need."