Discussion on China's anti-epidemic response based on the Protocol on Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 from Chinese Authority.

ABSTRACT

Eight versions of the Protocol on Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (the Protocol) were issued successively by the Chinese authority to guide the local responses since the first COVID-19 case appeared in Wuhan, China. This study aimed to investigate the evolution of the overall strategy and specific measures in these Protocols, and several recommendations were provided after analysing China's response to the epidemic resurgence. As a result, we found a gradual expanding trend in case surveillance, early screening, and epidemiological investigation, as well as a progressively rigorous tendency in isolation measures and close contact management. With the Protocol's guidance, China had achieved success in several recent fights against domestic COVID-19 resurgences. The city lockdown and multiple city-wide nucleic acid tests adopted were deemed necessary in COVID-19 resurgence's battle. Besides, the large-scale distance centralised quarantine, which is, quarantine in a purpose-built isolation station away from communities where people under quarantine lived, was promoted in rural areas. China's anti-epidemic achievements provide ideas for the global battle against COVID-19.