China adopts increased measures to prevent holiday season epidemic outbreaks

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese epidemic control agencies will introduce more measures to prevent epidemic outbreaks during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, a senior health official said Tuesday.

The COVID-19 infection rate in China might rebound to a certain degree around the time of the Spring Festival holiday when an estimated 9 billion trips are set to be made, said Lei Zhenglong, chief of the epidemic control and prevention division of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, at a press conference.

Health authorities will step up monitoring at border ports and expand COVID-19 and influenza vaccination coverage for vulnerable population, particularly elderly people and those who have chronic diseases, Lei said.

Hospitals have been told to beef up manpower in their emergency wards and in departments focusing on paediatrics, respiration and critical diseases. In addition, pharmacies have been asked to increase their stock of cold and respiratory medicines, according to Lei.