PRESIDENT Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater legislative, law enforcement, judicial and law observance efforts to strengthen the capacity to carry out law-based infection prevention and control.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the statement when presiding over the third meeting of the Commission for Overall Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee. Xi is the head of the commission.
Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu and Wang Huning, who are deputy heads of the commission, attended the meeting.
Documents including the commission's guidelines on practicing law-based infection prevention and control of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus were adopted at the meeting.
While addressing the meeting, Xi said the infection prevention and control is at a critical moment and stressed the utmost importance of carrying out the work in a law-based, scientific and orderly manner.
Xi spoke of the need to improve legislation related to epidemic prevention and control, strengthen the building of supporting institutions and improve punishment procedures.
Laws and regulations on epidemic prevention and control and emergency response must be strictly enforced, risk assessment be improved and decisions be made prudently and in accordance with the law, Xi said.
He also stressed strict enforcement of law on prevention and control of infectious diseases and the regulation regarding its implementation, laws on wildlife protection and animal quarantine, as well as the regulation on public health emergency response.
Xi called for a severe crackdown on illegal activities and crimes ranging from resisting epidemic prevention and control efforts, assaulting medical workers, manufacturing and selling fake products, to rumor-mongering that undermines epidemic prevention and control efforts.
Donations and receiving donations should be carried out according to the law, Xi stressed, noting that all donated funds and goods should be used for epidemic prevention and control in a timely manner.
Xi also stressed timely and accurate release of the epidemic information in accordance with the law, as well as strengthened public legal education and legal services related to the epidemic prevention and control.
Xi told Party committees and governments at all levels to improve law-based governance through coping with major emergencies.
The meeting stressed implementing judicial reforms, strengthening rule of law in rural areas and reforming the system of administrative reconsideration.
Chinese socialist rule of law is the most basic, stable and reliable guarantee to the governance of systems, said the meeting, adding that law-based governance should be advanced to boost the role of rule of law in modernizing China's system and capacity for governance.
Here are the latest updates: China coordinates resources to ensure mask supplies
China has actively coordinated resources under a joint prevention and control mechanism to address the shortage of masks amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, an official said Wednesday.
Hao Fuqing, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference held in Beijing that efforts have been made to support production resumption by enterprises to improve production capacity and increase supply.
As of Monday, daily production of masks exceeded 14.8 million by factories in 22 provincial-level regions, up 3.1 percent from the previous day, Hao said.
The output of masks has shown a continuous upward trend in general, especially medical N95 masks, which are urgently needed on the front lines of the battle against the epidemic, according to Hao.
As long as they are meeting standards, enterprises can go full steam ahead in production without worrying about the surplus, which will be purchased and kept in reserve by the government after the epidemic, Hao stressed.
WHO issues appeal for $675m to fight coronavirus
The World Health Organization on Wednesday called for $675 million (613 million euros) in donations for a plan to fight the novel coronavirus, mainly through investment in countries considered particularly “at risk”.
“Today we’re launching a strategic preparedness and response plan…. We’re requesting $675 million to fund the plan for the next three months,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference in Geneva.
The WHO says there is a "window of opportunity" to stop the deadly new coronavirus becoming a broader global crisis.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the steps China took to fight the virus at its epicentre were a good way of stopping its spread.
The praise comes as Chinese officials have been widely criticised for their initial handling of the outbreak.
On Tuesday alone, nearly 4,000 new cases were confirmed in the country.
The death toll has now risen to 490, an increase of 65 deaths in mainland China in one day, the latest figures from the country's National Health Commission (NHC) said. All the new fatalities were in Hubei province, the centre of the outbreak. Hong Kong to impose a 14-day mandatory quarantine Hong Kong will impose a 14- day mandatory quarantine on all travelers coming from mainland China to contain the epidemic as three more cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in the territory on Wednesday.
Leader Carrie Lam said that beginning Saturday, all travelers, locals and foreigners alike, arriving in Hong Kong from mainland China will have to undergo a two-week quarantine and will be barred from leaving.
"The epidemic in the mainland is continuing, the number of infected cases is on the rise, and the situation in Hong Kong is worsening with three more new confirmed cases that are believed to be local infections," Lam told reporters. "The possibility of community spread is worrying."
Confirmed cases in Hong Kong grew to 21, including one who died Tuesday and two who remain in critical condition.
Japan to send a fourth charter flight to Wuhan
Japan will send a fourth charter flight to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, on Thursday to evacuate its citizens, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Wednesday.
Some 200 people, including Chinese and other foreign family members of Japanese nationals, are expected to board the plane when it returns from Wuhan. Many of them reside in parts of Hubei Province outside of Wuhan, the provincial capital.
REFERENCES Xinhua; Kyodo Daily News Updates
