Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan demanded strengthened efforts to plug the loopholes in COVID-19 response and prevent case importation and domestic resurgence.

Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in northeastern Heilongjiang Province on COVID-19 prevention and control from Monday to Wednesday.

Requiring continuous efforts to implement the regular epidemic response measures to consolidate the gains in anti-virus battle, Sun stressed that the previous efforts to curb the epidemic should not go in vain.

During her stay in the cities of Mudanjiang, Suifenhe and Harbin, Sun visited the designated and temporary hospitals for COVID-19 treatment, disease control centers, quarantine venues, border ports, and communities to learn about field works on the epidemic prevention and control.

At a symposium held in Harbin, the provincial capital, Sun listened to the reports of the Heilongjiang provincial and national medical expert task forces, and learned about the epidemic prevention measures in Heilongjiang and neighboring Jilin Province via video link.

She called for efforts to promote testing and epidemiological investigation capability, study the characteristics of subtype novel coronavirus, and improve diagnosis and treatment protocols.