China's central government on Wednesday rolled out eight measures to reward the country's millions of community workers who have fought on the front line against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Hubei Province and the provincial capital Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, have seen a sharp decline in new cases, and one of the temporary hospitals is closed as they discharged recovered patients. But the country still remains on alert as more new cases seen overseas.
So far, the virus has infected over 80,000 people and killed nearly 3,000, according to Chinese health authorities.
In The Spotlight: Community engagement during the coronavirus outbreak
Since the outbreak, millions of community workers in about 650,000 urban and rural communities across the country have built the first line of defense against the coronavirus, keeping the virus out of their "territories".
They are responsible for conducting daily, door-to-door quarantine check on households and shops, and purchasing groceries and drugs for residents.
A community worker carries packs of medicine for residents in Jiang'an District of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, February 24, 2020. /Xinhua
The document released by a leading group of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak highlights the contribution of community workers during the fight against the virus.
It calls on local governments to reward community workers by increasing their welfare and allowances, and ensure their safety and well-being by providing them adequate protective gears.
Local governments must also ensure community workers to get a mandatory rest after long working hours.
And for those who have had accidents or fallen ill at work, they can claim compensation for work-related infections.
(Cover: Community workers register residents' information in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, February 5, 2020. /Xinhua)