Streamlined community-based virus prevention, control needed: Expert

Existing community-based COVID-19 prevention and control strategies across China need to be streamlined so they play a more precise role in epidemic control and meet public demand to return normal life and work, a senior expert said on Tuesday. 

With restoration of work, school and production, personnel movement across the country has increased greatly. Meanwhile, many volunteers will return to their original work, which will result in a lack of personnel for epidemic control in communities, Wu Hao, head of an expert team for community epidemic control under the central government's Leading Group for COVID-19 Epidemic Control, said at a news conference. 

"At this time, we need improve the preciseness and scientificness of community epidemic control efforts, and come up with a community prevention and control plan that can be carried out on a regular basis," he said. 

Experts need to keep epidemic research and evaluation and make specific control and prevention strategies based on different level of risks, he said. Existing strategies should keep evolving with the evolution of the epidemic, Wu said. 

Meanwhile, information technology should be adopted in community epidemic control, and more efforts are needed for data sharing between different departments, he said. 

Wu also suggested mobilizing community residents to participate in epidemic control and prevention in their own communities using various means to make up for the shortage of professional staff. 

Authorities should help medical staff at grassroots medical institutions, such as community health centers, to improve their ability for prevention and control of infectious diseases, while community hospitals and clinics should play their advantages in familiarity with local residents to infectious disease education and guide them to receive proper diagnosis and treatment, he said.