WUHAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A liaison group sent by China's State Council on Monday ordered strengthened control against the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province and the city previously hardest hit by the epidemic.

The villages within the urban area, old residential communities, schools and elderly nursing homes should be treated as key areas to avoid cluster infections, according to the group led by Ding Xiangyang, deputy secretary-general of the State Council.

The group on Monday inspected local residential communities to promote related work on COVID-19 control.

Wuhan last week announced its plan to expand nucleic acid tests in order to better know the number of asymptomatic cases or people who show no clear symptoms despite carrying the virus.

Such tests would help with earlier prevention and reduce the risk of the virus spread. Officials and people should continue their prevention and control against the epidemic and never let go the hard-won results, according to the liaison group.