WHO experts praise health efforts in Shenzhen

Shenzhen's coronavirus epidemic control efforts were acknowledged by experts from the World Health Organization, a report published by the National Health Commission said on Saturday.

The WHO experts were on a fact-finding mission in China from Feb 16 to 24, visiting Sichuan, Guangdong and Hubei provinces and Beijing to assess measures taken by local authorities to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In Shenzhen, Guangdong, they visited Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Qiaoxiang community medical center and Tencent, the Chinese internet giant.

The WHO experts thought the "finger-tip" reporting software at the Shenzhen airport was easy to use and that the airport's inspection and quarantine procedures were rigorous and professional.

Shenzhen Airport Group, the manager of the airport, attributed the success to early deployment, broad mobilization, concrete implementation and responsiveness, as well as to recognizing the importance of high technology in epidemic control and disease prevention.

The airport has strived to ensure full coverage of temperature monitoring of all people entering and leaving the airport, and to make sure all public sites are properly sterilized.

The anti-epidemic measures at the Futian high-speed train station, a busy transportation hub in the city, also won praise from the WHO experts.

As the number of passengers it handles each day has dropped to about 600, a fraction of its normal level, the station has installed infrared thermometers at its entrances and exits that can perform real-time temperature monitoring of anyone passing them.

Station authorities said public areas are sterilized twice a day and that special attention is paid to protecting the health of staff members.