Ying Yong, the newly appointed Party chief of Hubei province, is serving as chief commander of the province's prevention and control work against the novel coronavirus.

Ying presided over a meeting on epidemic prevention work on Sunday and adjusted personnel for the provincial epidemic prevention and control headquarters, as well as their responsibilities.

The headquarters was set up on Jan 22 in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, commanded by the provincial Party chief and governor, and has several subordinate working groups responsible for material security, transportation and social donations.

Ying took over command after he was appointed provincial Party chief, replacing Jiang Chaoliang.

He said at the meeting the epidemic prevention work mechanism should be perfected to ensure a quick and decisive response.

He also urged coordination of high-quality medical resources and strengthened treatment capacity by organizing scientific research to increase recovery rates and reduce fatalities, as well as optimize allocation of all materials and do everything possible to improve distributional efficiency.