China CDC organizes COVID-19 emergency response training workshop for Rapid Response Teams

Since the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, China CDC had sent out batches of rapid response teams and experts to the fields to support national prevention and control efforts. They have accumulated a wealth of experiences through emergency operations.

To improve the technical capacity of rapid response teams and share their field experiences, the Health Emergency Center of China CDC held a training workshop for COVID-19 rapid response team members on Dec 16, through both online and onsite participation.

More than 50 persons participated the training at CDC Changping Campus, including the team leaders and members from the national epidemiological investigation expert team and the national expert team for COVID-19 prevention and control, and the staff members of the Health Emergency Center and the Department of Infectious Diseases of China CDC. Over 180 persons joined the workshop online.

Lu Jiang, the deputy director and Party Secretary of China CDC, pointed out that the CDC staff should further strengthen their technical capacities and technical knowledge in the fight against COVID-19, and assume responsibility at the outbreak sites. Lu also emphasized that the CDC should put more attention on epidemic research and technical analysis to provide strong technical supports for epidemic response decision-making.

During the workshop, Feng Zijian, the vice president of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, shared his insights on global response efforts to COVID-19 pandemic and China's response strategies.

Shi Guoqing and Zhang Yanping, deputy directors of the Health Emergency Center, Ma Huilai, head of the Chinese Field Epidemiology Training Program (CFETP), and Yao Xiaoyuan, deputy director of the CDC's Institute of Environment, introduced epidemiological investigation, contact tracing and on-site disinfection, among other topics, drawing on their on-site work experience.

At the discussion session, members of the emergency teams also shared their experiences and lessons learned from field response.