Village head's loudspeaker warnings strike a chord

Editor's note: This series tells the stories of selfless individuals, from medical workers to volunteers, who are bravely fighting the virus outbreak with extraordinary dedication.

Li Deping, the head of Dazhancheng, a village in Central China's Henan province, has been taking stern measures to help stem the public health threat amid the novel coronavirus epidemic.

"I shouted at the villagers via loudspeaker on the night of the second day of Chinese New Year, since many people did not take the possible spread of the virus seriously," said Li, 57, who leads the village in the city of Xinxiang.

"Words that are any less harsh mean they will take the matter lightly," Li said.

Li's public warnings to villagers to stay at home to reduce risks of infection during the epidemic have struck a chord with communities nationwide, online and offline, with many residents giving him the thumbs-up.

Henan is just north of Hubei province, whose capital, Wuhan, is the epicenter of the outbreak.

By Tuesday, 44,653 cases of coronavirus infection were confirmed on the Chinese mainland. There have been 1,113 deaths－most of them in Hubei, where 33,366 cases have been confirmed and 1,068 people have died.

Early on the morning of Jan 23, Wuhan city officials announced plans to lock down the entire city. The Ministry of Transport also closed roads and waterways into the city. When the travel rush began for the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, which started on Jan 24, local authorities across the country also rolled out measures to lock down transportation links and called for residents to stay at home to reduce the risk of infection.

That was when Li felt the seriousness of the novel coronavirus. The township government asked him to report the latest travelers to the village, specifying their train numbers and the locations to which they returned.

"From that moment on, I realized that the severity of the epidemic needed to be made known to all 3,000 villagers. Since many of them knew little about the public health considerations, I decided to use loudspeakers to notify them," he said.

Villagers soon stopped hanging out on the streets during their spare time, and most of them chose to stay in their own homes and yards, Li said.

Vehicles from other areas were banned from passing through the village after Dazhancheng blocked its streets and roads on Jan 25, as required by local authorities.

"I don't want our village to be infected. … I should shoulder the responsibility to take care of our residents," Li said.

He was surprised when he became an online hit, a day after he shouted his public health messages via loudspeaker. He was just carrying out his duty, he said.

Li, who was elected as village head and Party secretary of Dazhancheng in March 2018, said he was previously responsible for maintaining public order and safety in the area.

Other virus prevention measures are being reported at the grassroots level across the country, with many villagers pitching in to reduce travel in their hometowns and cope with threats posed by the epidemic.