Guangzhou village lauded for contagion fight

The largest village in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has recently been praised for its great efforts made to fight the novel coronavirus, as no suspected or confirmed cases have been reported.

Located in Guangzhou's busy Tianhe district, Shipai village -- that covers an area of 0.31 square kilometers --it is home to 64,028 non-local people, including 3,348 from Central China's Hubei province, as well as local residents. Hubei residents in the village include 126 from Wuhan, the epidemic center of the deadly disease.

Shipai has welcomed more than 10,000 residents, including 112 from Hubei province, returned from around the country in the previous 19 days, as of Wednesday. No confirmed case has been reported in the village thanks to substantial and effective measures to fight the epidemic.

The village has more than 3,200 residential buildings for rental tenants, that carried out timely investigations and checks on suspected patients, and the village closed eight of the village's 17 entrances since Jan 25, said Chi Weidong, a village official.

The village also formed working groups consisting of local members of the Communist Party of China and volunteers to visit every household to monitor residents returning from other cities and find suspected patients. Chi said.

"The village also offered medicines, thermometers and surgical masks to households," he said.

Meanwhile the village is paying special attention to residents who have been isolated at home for medical observation, helping them solve problems in daily life, he added.

A resident surnamed Zhu, who comes from a neighboring village, said he is thankful for help provided by the village.

"They helped buy meat and vegetables, and take out the trash," said Zhu, who has been released from quarantine on Tuesday.