Chinese President Xi Jinping praised community workers for their important role in the battle against COVID-19, urging them to continue their solid efforts in containing the epidemic and wholeheartedly serving the people.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a Wednesday letter to community workers at a neighborhood in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. 

"Since I came back from Wuhan, I have been thinking about you, and I feel very happy that life in Wuhan communities is gradually returning to normal," he wrote in the letter.

The president inspected the prevention and control work in Wuhan in March and learned during the visit about community-based efforts against the virus and the measures being taken to ensure the supply of daily essentials.

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Xi stressed that Wuhan has reopened but the tasks of prevention and control should not be relaxed and that community is still an important line of defense against external input and internal rebound of cases.

He further encouraged community workers to continue careful prevention and control against the virus.

Over 20,000 residents have observed at-home quarantine in Wuhan, which has been sealed off since late January to contain the spread of the virus.

Community workers have to go grocery shopping, buy medicine and run other errands for families under quarantine. Large-scale body temperature testing is mandated in workplaces, public venues, and residential communities.

China has given special grants to dedicated community workers and volunteers battling the novel coronavirus at the primary level in urban and rural areas.