By Zhu Meili, Research Team on “Countermeasures on Controlling Novel Coronavirus Epidemic”, China Development Research Foundation

Research Report, No. 19, 2020 (Total 5763) 2020-2-25

Abstract: The severity of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease is highly related to the direction of population migration in the epicenter of the epidemic in China. The effective measures taken by 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China during the first stage of epidemic prevention and control from January 10 to February 10 this year are due to the centralized and unified leadership of the Communist Party of China. The governments at all levels have born their respective responsibilities, implemented policies in a differentiated and targeted manner and taken the initiative to advance their work to check the disease. However, some regions have failed to cope with the epidemic effectively, mainly because some local officials pass the buck to others and place themselves above medical professionals. Besides, the capability of medical and health systems on providing services is inadequate, and medical resources are unevenly distributed. In the short term, local governments need to curb the spread of the epidemic, implement relevant policies in light of local conditions and coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development. From the long perspective, local authorities need to summarize the weak points of the governance system and governance capabilities exposed in the epidemic prevention and control, and promote the reform of the administrative system.

Key words: COVID-19 epidemic, prevention and control measures of local governments, governance experience