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HEFEI, Feb. 18-- China has stepped up efforts to shore up weak spots in the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as the epidemic prevention and control have entered the most crucial stage. "Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, remains the main battlefield," said Wang Hesheng, deputy head of the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference Saturday. "Improving admission and survival rates and reducing infection and fatality rates are still the most urgent tasks." Currently, nine temporary hospitals with more than 6,960 beds have opened in Hubei, with 5,606 patients infected with the virus receiving treatment in these hospitals. "Our confidence has grown with the increase of designated hospitals, temporary hospitals and isolation areas," said Wang Ying, a community worker in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. For other cities in Hubei Province facing the same challenges but with limited resources, over half of China's provincial-level regions have paired up with them, offering medical staff, equipment and supplies. As of Feb. 14, a total of 217 medical teams with 25,633 medical workers had been sent to Hubei to help combat the epidemic, figures from the NHC show. "Spring is coming, along with hope. Wuhan is going to win and we can go home together then," wrote Liu Yuan, a medical worker sent to help in one of the temporary hospitals in Wuhan, in her diary. Nationwide, other regions across China have also taken tough, resolute and precise measures to curb the epidemic from the source. | 
