Students learn how to wash their hands during the first lesson of the new semester in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China on May 13 as the autonomous region resumed class at primary schools while taking regular epidemic prevention and control measures. Public facilities shall be reopened in an orderly and category-based manner, especially for medical institutions and schools, according to a guideline issued on May 8 (XINHUA)

China has put in place a set of guidelines to facilitate regular prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, according to a senior health official.

The document, issued by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism, highlighted 20 measures ranging from daily epidemic prevention at key public facilities to cross-region recognition of cell phone-based health codes, Li Bin, deputy head of the National Health Commission, told a press conference on May 8.

Community workers check the body temperature of a staff delivering liquefied gas cylinders to local residents before he enters into residential buildings in Wuhan, Hubei Province in central China on April 15. Regular prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic shall be carried out in China for the country to entrench the positive momentum and underpin the restoration of normal economic order (XINHUA)

It takes targeted measures to prevent case importation and domestic resurgence, said Li, adding that concrete efforts are necessary in entrenching the positive momentum and underpinning the restoration of normal economic order.

Local authorities were asked to guide the public in keeping proper social distance and following scientific advice on wearing protective masks.

A man receives health code and temperature check at the entrance of a supermarket in Suifenhe, Heilongjiang Province in northeast China on April 17. Local authorities were asked to guide the public in keeping proper social distance and following scientific advice on wearing protective masks for regular prevention and control of COVID-19 (XINHUA)

Besides implementing early detection, reporting, isolation and treatment of infections, the guidelines also pledged to minimize the containment area to reduce the impact on normal work and life.

Public facilities shall be reopened in an orderly and category-based manner, especially for medical institutions and schools, said the document.

It also called for further expansion of the nucleic acid testing capability and timely adjustments of risk levels for different regions.

A staff member conducts disinfection at the Changsha station of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Intercity Railway in Changsha, Hunan Province in central China on April 21. The railway station has taken regular epidemic prevention and control measures to ensure the transportation safety of passengers (XINHUA)