East China's Fujian province hosted a press conference on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) epidemic in Fuzhou on Feb 10.

At the conference, government officials explained the measures Fujian had taken to support the resumption of production, relieve shortages in medical supplies for the epidemic, and postpone the start of the new semester.

The Fujian government has said that it will spare no effort to support the resumption of production by enterprises involved in epidemic prevention and control, energy supply, medical materials, and daily necessities.

The government will also take measures to support the resumption of Fujian's centrally-administered and State-owned enterprises, leading enterprises, enterprises in high-tech, high-growth, and high-added value sectors, and foreign trade firms, and promote a hasty return to normal operations.

A variety of financial policies, including reducing tax burdens and lowering interest rates, were also introduced for enterprises that had been severely affected by the NCP outbreak, as well as key companies on the frontlines of epidemic prevention and control efforts.

The government will give priority to enterprises involved in epidemic prevention and control and help them resume production as soon as possible in an effort to relieve shortages in medical supplies and protective clothing in Fujian.

Thanks to these supportive measures, the daily output of face masks had reached nearly 2 million by Feb 9, six times higher than before the Spring Festival, and the province can now produce 50,000 N95 medical masks per day. The daily production of face masks is expected to surpass 5 million in the near future.

The province has also boosted efforts to increase production of protective medical clothing and meet demands for disinfection and sterilization supplies.

In addition, the province has asked schools to postpone the start of the 2020 spring semester until further notice, and after-school training institutions have also had to cancel classroom instruction, according to an announcement by the province’s education authorities at the conference.

Road transit will be restored in an orderly manner, and Fujian will gradually reopen public transport as work and production resumes.

Officials from public health departments announced at the conference that funds must be used to directly contain the coronavirus epidemic. By Jan 30, Fujian had allocated 483 million yuan in funds to prevent and control the epidemic.

Financial aid will be given to people confirmed or suspected to be infected with NCP, ensuring that treatment will not be hampered by medical costs.

Subsidies will also be provided to medical workers and other personnel involved in preventing and controlling the virus.

In addition, the government will provide necessary assistance to medical institutions in need of medical equipment and testing kits to fight against the NCP epidemic.