HEFEI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Living in a nursing home in eastern China's Anhui Province, 83-year-old Su Wenkui does not feel anxious about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, though he hears about the rising number of confirmed cases on the radio every day.

Su has lived in the nursing home in the city of Hefei, capital of Anhui, with his wife for more than one year.

"People come to disinfect the building every day and monitor our temperature twice a day. Since they started to deliver food to our rooms, all we need to do is stay inside. It's very safe," said Su, adding he can fully understand the measures.

In the nationwide fight against the novel coronavirus, the Chinese government and relevant organizations have rolled out a series of strict measures and humanistic services to prevent vulnerable groups such as the elderly, orphans and the handicapped from the virus.

On Jan. 28, the National Health Commission (NHC) issued a notice on the prevention and control of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus among the elderly, requiring elderly care institutions to be closed when necessary and suspend visits and the acceptance of new elderly residents.

The measures aimed to ensure the safety and health of the elderly in the institutions.

Prior to the issue of the notice, Chinese regions including Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Anhui had temporarily closed off the elderly care facilities and strengthened management. The elderly care service center where Su lives closed on Jan. 24.

In Anhui alone, a total of 2,429 eldercare institutions have been closed, according to the provincial department of civil affairs.

"The elderly, who usually suffer from several underlying diseases and have weak immunity, are susceptible to coronavirus infection. Therefore, we should implement more stringent protective measures," said Zuo Li, who is in charge of the service center.

Zuo said that there are currently 33 workers who have been divided into two groups, and each group needs to stay and provide healthcare there in 14-day rotations.

"As long as our staff goes out less, the risk of virus infection in the elderly in the center can be reduced. Spending more time and sharing more knowledge about the new virus with them can help them feel more secure," Zuo said, adding psychological comfort is very important for the aged.

As of Tuesday, more than 80 percent of the deaths from the coronavirus infection were elderly people over 60 years old and over 75 percent had at least one underlying disease such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or tumors, said Jiao Yahui, an NHC official, at a press conference.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs also issued a guideline for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus in child welfare institutes on Jan. 28. It requested that institutes of child welfare and aid agencies for juveniles should close, and all gathering activities in and out of the agencies should be canceled.

A total of 84 children welfare houses in Anhui have been closed as part of the epidemic prevention and control efforts.

Dong Chuanyun, 43, works for a children's welfare house in Hefei.

Dong said she needs to measure her temperature, wash her hands carefully, change into ultraviolet sterilized work clothes and wear a mask before taking care of the children.

"We disinfect the floors, door handles, toys, beds, clothes and tableware every day and check the body temperature of the children four times a day. Children also have their own dedicated tableware," Dong added.

"So far, all children in our welfare house are in good health. We are, in fact, the parents of the children, and we try our best to build them a 'virus-free world' amid the outbreak," said Wei Zhihui, deputy director of welfare house.