Table 1 The three-stage major measures taken for COVID-19 in China

Stage 1: Initial stage of COVID-19

1 Classification of infectious diseases: the COVID-19 included in category B infectious diseases, and adopted prevention and control measures for Category A infectious diseases.

2 Established COVID-19 Command System:

(1) The National Health Commission made arrangements to send expert teams to Wuhan to conduct on-site investigations.

(2) The central government set up a leading group on the disease response.

Stage 2: spreading stage of COVID-19

1 Lockdown Wuhan city:

(1) Activated public health emergency II level responses of Hubei province.

(2) On Jan 23, 2020: temporarily closed Wuhan outbound routes of airports and railway stations at 10 a.m.; Suspended city's passenger transport operations; People were told to cannot leave Wuhan and home quarantine; Lockdown Wuhan city lasted 76 days.

2 Community and social control measures:

(1) All provinces activated Level 1 public health emergency response.

(2) Adopt measures to put “four categories of people” under classified management and conducted mass screenings to search for them; All those in need are tested, isolated, hospitalized, or treated was implemented.

(3) Strictly observed the principle of early detection, reporting, quarantine, and treatment.

(4) Extended the Chinese New Year holiday of 2020 and postponed the opening of schools.

(5) Required residents to implement home quarantine, 14-day isolation after trans-regional travel, and protective measures including wearing masks, maintaining social distance and reducing gatherings.

3 Medical treatment policy:

(1) Medical expenses incurred by COVID-19 patients will be covered by basic medical insurance, critical illness insurance and medical assistance, and the individual portion will be subsidized by the government. Medical insurance has also reduced the cost of treatment for suspected patients.

(2) Established a mechanism to organize pairing assistance from other provinces to Hubei’s cities for treatment; Nationwide resources were mobilized to assist Hubei province; Rapidly constructed 16 mobile cabin hospitals by mobilizing nationwide medical equipment.

(3) Produced and released Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, which adding methods of traditional Chinese medicine.

Stage 3: normalize prevention and control stage

1 Guard against imported cases:

(1) Tighten up border management, implemented "the first point of entry management" and nucleic acid testing of inbound personnel.

(2) Implemented the declaration of health information for inbound personnel, and suspended the entry of foreigners holding Chinese visas and residence permits.

2 Prevent a rebound in indigenous cases:

(1) Adopted precise and differentiated epidemic control strategies: Low-risk regions should focus on imported cases and restore production and life at an appropriate time; Medium-risk regions should prevent both imported cases and indigenous spread; High-risk regions should strictly commit epidemic prevention and control.

(2) Using health color code as identification and the evidence of daily life and access to public places.

(3) For sporadic cases: Strengthen screening of close contacts; Trace source of confirmed cases; Strengthen early-warning research and risk grading; Strengthen quarantine control of key personnel.

3 Expedited vaccines and medicines research and application:

(1) COVID-19 therapeutic drugs were included in new scope of medical insurance list.

(2) In Dec, launched a key population vaccination campaign.