A medical worker collects swab samples at a nucleic acid testing site in Chengguan District of Lanzhou City, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 21, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan conducted an inspection tour from Thursday to Saturday in Lanzhou and Tianshui in Northwest China's Gansu Province, which was hit by the resurgence of COVID-19. She urged local officials to take precise COVID-19 control measures in order to curtail sporadic outbreaks.

As the risk of transmission increases due to some infected people travelling to other areas, Sun has urged quick and decisive measures to raise efficiency of nucleic acid tests and accelerate epidemiological investigations in order to confirm infected people and block the spread. 

Health conditions of patients in this resurgence deteriorated fast with more than 20 percent of the severe cases and many of them are elderly people with underlying diseases. Sun noted that every patient should be treated carefully and specifically, with their nutrition and mental health ensured. 

Sun pointed out that it was still needed to prevent imported cases and the resurgence of COVID-19 infections under such circumstances. Construction of a public health emergency response system in the western region should be sped up, including building designated hospitals, strengthening medical staff teams and improving emergency response capabilities. 

The latest COVID-19 resurgence, which has spread to 11 provincial-level regions including Gansu, was triggered by a new imported source and was diagnosed as the Delta variant, according to officials from China's top health authority last week. Gansu, with the number of infected people reaching 95 till Saturday, closed off residential areas citywide on Tuesday to prevent further spread of the virus.

Global Times