EpidemicPreventionandControlMeasuresShouldn'tresultinShortageofSuppliesforResidentsInrecentdays,thelockdownofneighborhoodsinTonghuaCityofJilinProvinceresultedinapartofthepopulationencounteringtheproblemofdailysuppliesnotbeingdeliveredontime,whichhasreceivedextensiveattention.OnJanuary24,adeputymayorofTonghuaapologizedforthisissue.Earlythenextmorning,theTonghuamunicipalPartysecretaryheadedtothefrontlinetocheckthesituationofdailynecessitiessupply.Accordingtopreviousmediareports,manylocalresidentshavereported"shortageoffoodandmedicine"afterTonghuaimplementedby-familyepidemicpreventionandcontrolmeasures.Somefamiliesevenhave"anapplethattwochildrenateforthreedays"...Itisdifficulttoimaginethatinaprefectural-levelcitywithapopulationofonly360,000people,thelocalgovernmentcannotguaranteethesupplyofbasicdailynecessitiestoitspeopleduringtheepidemic,totheextentthattheresidentshadtogetonthesocialmediaplatformWeibotoseeknationalattentiontosolvetheproblem.Tonghuaresidents'wishtocreatea"trending"topiccametrue,andthelocalgovernmentstartedtopayattention.However,thisdoesnotmeanallissuesrelatedtopandemiccontainmentmeasureshavebeensolved.Aftertheauthorities'apology,thereisstilladisparitybetweenthemeasurestakenbyrelevantdepartmentsinTonghuaandtherealityofthepopulation'ssubsistenceguarantee.Severeepidemicsituation,neighborhoodslockdown,andshortageofgoodsandmaterialsarenothingnew.SincetheoutbreakoftheCOVID-19epidemiclastyear,manyregionshavebeenconfrontedwiththeshortageofsupplies.However,almostoneyearafterthesecircumstancesfirstoccurred,similarproblemsarestilltakingplace,whichdemonstratesthatthoseregionsdidnottaketheproblemsfacedbyotherregionsseriously,nordidtheylearnfromothers'pastfailures.Otherwise,pre-arrangedplanningshouldhavetakenplace,andthereshouldn'thavebeentheissueofsuchshortageofsupplies.Acityshouldhavethecapacitytohandleemergencysituations,toprotectthelivelihoodsofcitizensunderthesecircumstances.Itshouldbeemphasizedthatthisisnotonlytheneedwhencombatingthecurrentpandemic,butshouldbeacity’sbasicfunctionalrequirement.Asidefromtheoutburstofinfectiousdiseases,everycitymightbeconfrontedwithrainstorm,mountaintorrents,waterlogging,electricityandwateroutage,andothernaturaldisastersandaccidentsintheirdailylives.Regardlessofthesizeofacity,theconstructionofemergencyresponsecapacitiesandpreparationofcontingencyplansaresupposedtoberoutineworkoflocalauthorities.Whetherthepandemicendsornot,agoodemergencyresponsecapacityshouldbeafundamentalsecurityguaranteeforacity'sdevelopment,anditshouldbeanintegralcomponentinimprovingthegovernanceabilityofurbanadministrators.Atpresent,thepriorityforvariousregionalgovernmentsistoexaminetheinadequaciesintheiremergencyresponsecapacities,learnscientificanti-epidemicmethods,andforgeacomprehensivechainofepidemicpreventionandcontrol.Besidesformulatingananti-pandemiccontingencyplanassoonaspossible,localgovernmentsshouldalsosystematicallyandscientificallystudyandevalsuatetheanti-pandemicmeasurestakenbyotherregionsandseeiftheycanbeimplementedlocally.Atappropriatetimes,theyshouldconductdrillsofanti-epidemicmeasures,toguaranteethatwhenanepidemictakesplace,therewillbenomistakesinpreventionandcontrolmeasures.ContributedbyChenChengTranslatedbyZhangJunye