A child waves the Chinese national flag while posing for photos on a bridge in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Oct. 2, 2021. Strict epidemic prevention and control measures have been imposed at the city's main shopping malls, tourist attractions and other sites where mass gatherings take place during the ongoing National Day holiday. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)
HARBIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Pan Lili, a community worker in China's Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province, is working through her National Day holiday from Oct. 1 to 7.
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has recently seen another COVID-19 outbreak. On Sept. 21, the provincial capital Harbin reported its first recent case of COVID-19, which was subsequently identified as the Delta variant.
By Saturday, there were 83 local cases in Heilongjiang Province, the provincial health commission said.
Community workers like Pan Lili are among the frontline staff battling the spread. Pan is responsible for assisting in epidemiological investigations, distributing materials for home-quarantined residents, and organizing nucleic acid testing.
"At first, I felt fear and panic when the epidemic broke out. Now, with enough experience, I can handle it with great calm," Pan said.
Cui Hongping, a nurse who also lives in Suihua City, is also working through the holiday. She and her team are responsible for Suihua's citywide nucleic acid testing campaign. The 100-member team has tested approximately 30,000 people in the course of each campaign.
Though Cui's allergies caused her hands to rupture and swell with the frequent application of hand sanitizer at work, she did not lose her focus. She put on gloves and kept working.
"My job as a nurse requires me to work to keep the people healthy and safe," she said.
Mass nucleic acid testing is an important measure for targeted COVID-19 containment. By Oct. 3, Suihua had carried out four mass nucleic acid testing campaigns, with a total of over 8.61 million tests performed, local authorities said on Sunday.
In Bayan County, Suihua City, and other regions of Heilongjiang Province that have been impacted by this outbreak, many medical workers, traffic police and volunteers are working through the holiday. Their efforts have helped control the outbreak to a limited scope.
Through targeted COVID-19 containment measures, most Chinese people, including those in Heilongjiang Province, are able to enjoy a safe and jubilant National Day holiday.
Tourists enjoy a raft ride at the Maoyan River scenic area during the ongoing National Day holiday in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 3, 2021. (Photo by Wu Yongbing/Xinhua)
Some 16 million passenger trips were made by rail on Friday, the first day of the weeklong holiday, and 127 million trips are expected to be made over the full course the holiday, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
On Shanghai's Bund, a "zipper" wall of police has appeared again. Due to the large number of tourists, police formed a human wall, diverting tourist flows with a traffic light system to prevent the dangers that can occur in crowds.
"A lively National Day holiday highlights the wisdom of China's COVID-19 management. Putting 'people first, lives first,' China is launching precise policies to minimize the impact of the pandemic on people's lives," said Qu Wenyong, a professor at Heilongjiang University.
"Workers on the frontline of pandemic control have demonstrated the Chinese people's love for family and country, and the spirit of solidarity of the Chinese people," Qu added. ■
