No. 1 [2021] Notice on Epidemic Prevention and Control of Suzhou
2021-01-16 11:01
To strengthen the epidemic prevention and control during the Spring Festival in Suzhou, earnestly take on the responsibility shared by “local governments, departments, organizations and individuals”, consolidate the hard-won gains in virus control and protect people’s life and health, this notice hereby specifies the followings:
1. We call on all residents in Suzhou not to organize or participate in unnecessary gatherings. Everyone should keep good hygiene habits such as putting on face masks, washing hands often, ventilating rooms routinely, keeping a distance of one meter from others, using serving spoons and chopsticks, etc. We advise the residents to make New Year calls via online platforms. The number of participants in family gatherings should be kept under ten. Pay serious attention to the situation in medium-risk and high-risk areas and avoid traveling to these areas or overseas.
2. Travelers from both domestic and overseas medium-risk and high-risk areas should put off coming or returning to Suzhou unless it’s necessary. Those who must return to Suzhou should report to local residential communities and their employers in advance and receive a 14-day quarantine at designated places. After that, they shall undergo an additional 14-day home-based observation, during which they should take nucleic acid tests as per requirements and not leave their houses.
3. Travelers who are coming or returning to Suzhou from low-risk areas in the cities (or districts of provincial-level municipalities) with medium-risk and high-risk areas should submit negative nucleic acid test results issued within the past seven days. For those who fail to submit negative nucleic acid test results as required, they will be transferred to sampling sites to take tests and wait at designated places until the test results come out. They will be allowed to travel within Suzhou in an orderly manner only if they are tested negative for COVID-19.
4. We call on employees of government departments, enterprises and public institutions across the city not to leave Jiangsu Province around the Spring Festival unless it’s necessary; those who must leave the province should report to their employers in advance. Local governments and organizations should provide warm services to the employees who are spending the Spring Festival holiday in Suzhou.
5. Students and staff from primary and secondary schools and kindergartens should avoid leaving Suzhou unless it’s necessary; those who must leave Suzhou should report to their schools in advance and take proper self-protection measures while traveling.
6. The Party and government departments at all levels, enterprises and public institutions should strictly control the organization of events involving large gatherings and in principle avoid large parties and year end dinners.
7. We will double down on our efforts to implement long-term epidemic prevention and control measures in rural areas. Those who are returning home or coming from other areas should report to local village committees and cooperate with information registration. We will further carry out patriotic public heath campaign and foster new festive practices in rural areas including putting off weddings, holding frugal funerals and canceling roadside banquets during the Spring Festival.
8. Residents should put on face masks and cooperate with health code (digital travel record) verification and temperature check at tourist attractions and key public places such as railway stations, bus stations, rail transit stations, ports, hotels, movie theaters, exhibition centers, internet cafés, clubs, etc. Residents should also keep the masks on when entering populated places including agricultural markets and supermarkets or taking public transport and taxi. Enclosed places including bathhouses and footcare centers can continue to operate at a maximum of 50 percent capacity. All the places mentioned above should be disinfected on a regular basis.
9. Consumers should check relevant certificates while purchasing imported cold-chain foods. Besides, all residents in Suzhou should avoid buying products shipped from regions outside the Chinese mainland (except Macao Special Administrative Region) or medium-risk and high-risk areas. Please put on gloves and disinfect in due time when you are receiving parcels or cleaning cold-chain foods.
10. Those who have such symptoms as fever and cough should seek medical treatment immediately at a fever clinic nearby. It is compulsory for all residents in Suzhou to register with real names before buying anti-inflammatory drugs, antipyretic drugs and cough medicines.
Local governments and organizations must uphold the mechanism for epidemic prevention and control that features unified leadership of Party committees and coordinated administration by the Party and government organizations. Local residential communities should form epidemic prevention and control working groups with members from local subdistricts (townships, development zones), primary-level clinics, community grids, community police stations and volunteer teams to implement relevant measures at key areas and for target groups of people.
All the aforementioned measures come into effect as from the day they go public. Suzhou will make dynamic adjustments on its epidemic prevention and control measures on the basis of relevant national-level and provincial-level requirements as well as the epidemic situation both at home and abroad.
Suzhou Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia
Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters
January 15, 2021
