China rolls out measures to care for medical workers

Chinese authorities have released a document listing measures to strengthen protection and care for medical workers, as part of efforts to fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Medical workers wear protective suits and equipment before entering the isolation ward at Wuhan No.1 Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, medics across the country have rushed to the battlefront and made great contributions to the protection of people's lives and health, said the circular issued Saturday by the leading group of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Noting the anti-virus fight has entered a critical stage, the document urged all departments to attach great importance to the protection and care for medical staff who are facing heavy tasks, high infection risks and great work pressure.

The document highlighted the following key measures to further protect and care for the medics:

— increase salaries and benefits for personnel engaging in epidemic prevention and treatment;

— compensate infected medics through work-related injury insurance for their occupational injuries;

— tilt favorable professional title evaluation policies toward frontline medical workers;

— improve services for frontline medical personnel, such as providing them with clean and nutritious meals, comfortable living environment and commuter services;

— strengthen personal protection of medical professionals, including meeting the frontline medics' needs for protective products;

— ensure medical workers are rotated so that they have time to rest and recover, increase their paid vacation days after the epidemic;

— provide mental health services for frontline medial workers in time;

— offer care and assistance to frontline workers whose families are in need, such as facilitating their family members' access to medical services and their children's education;

— create a safer working environment, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of medical workers;

— award outstanding medical workers and honor those who died fighting the epidemic as martyrs. Give preferential treatment to their children in school enrolling.