Led by Lei Haichao, vice-minister of the National Health Commission (NHC), a 35-member working group under the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 guided response to the latest pandemic infections in Ruili of Southwest China's Yunnan province from April 2 to 17.

Adhering to the instruction of the central leadership on giving top priority to people's health, the working group surveyed local anti-virus efforts at medical institutions, residential communities under epidemic -related management, centralized quarantine and observation sites, nucleic acid sampling sites, agricultural product markets, supermarkets and border ports.

Systems of regular daily briefing and information consultation have been set up and efforts in the fight against COVID-19 involving all-level strength in Yunnan have been integrated and enhanced.

Meanwhile, an all-out commitment has been made to ensure COVID-19 treatment with a combination of Chinese traditional medicine and Western medicine as well as strengthened management of communities, and especially of close contacts and secondary close contacts.

The group has also improved laboratory testing capabilities, strengthened management of inbound personnel and cargos and promoted epidemiological surveys and virus traceability.