On the afternoon of July 23, the 160th press conference on novel coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention and control in Beijing was held as scheduled. As usual, Pang Xinghuo, Deputy Director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, briefed the conference on the latest situation in Beijing.

It was her 108th time to attend such a conference.

Preparing to retire at the age of 60 last year, Pang had to change her plan due to the two imported plague cases in Beijing. Then she was urgently designated as one of the experts to investigate the "unknown pneumonia" in Wuhan City, Central China's Hubei Province, by the National Health Commission.

Pang attended the first press conference on COVID-19 prevention and control in Beijing half a year ago. "I never thought that there would be more than 100 conferences like this," she said.

Initially, Pang explained the pandemic situation in Beijing, illustrated the pathogenesis of the confirmed COVID-19 cases and answered related questions. She then turned to focus on the details how the patients got infected.

Pang explained that when doing the epidemiological survey she noticed that some patients make some "mistakes." "If he hadn't done this, he might not have been infected, so I thought it was necessary to inform everyone."

On June 11, a new confirmed case was reported in Xicheng District of Beijing, ending a 56-day period of zero increased cases. It took Beijing only 22 hours from identifying the first case to pinpoint the source of the new outbreak.

After the outbreak, the city's disease prevention and control departments conducted an overall inspection on the environment and staff of the Xinfadi Wholesale Food Market, and suggested the government close it based on the results.

"Of course we were under great pressure," Pang explained, "Xinfadi plays an essential role in the supply of food and agricultural products in Beijing, so we had to make the scientific judgments in time."

Pang's team was required to make a detailed emergency response plan in one hour, including how to close the market, what to do after its closure and how to curb the spread in the communities around the market. "It was not easy to figure it out in a very short time," Pang recalled.

As the number of the increased cases peaked at 36 on June 13 and 14, the prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing entered a critical period. At the regular press conference, Pang felt an unprecedented pressure. 

"It was the most nervous time for me," Pang recalled. "I had to give the correct advice to everyone and tell them not to panic. What I wanted to explain most is to inform everyone this is an authentic official message."

Pang seems a workaholic in the eyes of her colleagues. Although 61 years old and having engaged in disease prevention and control for 37 years, she spends most of her time working and only sleeps two to three hours every day.

On July 20, Beijing lowered its public health emergency response from level two to three as no new cases were reported in the 14 previous days.

"I was really relaxing that day. I like seeing the number 'zero' and saying there are no increased cases reported today," Pang said. It is what she likes saying most and also what everyone expects.

Pang has become popular among the public through the 108 press conferences. With increasing popularity and influence, some people even dub her as an unparallel Internet celebrity.  

Pang hopes people will come to know more about the disease prevention and control department that contribute to the health of the city, rather than focus on her Internet celebrity identity.

"I don't want to show up at the press conferences very often, because it means I will report the pandemic situation. The less I show up, the safer the city," Pang said.

(Source: CCTV/Translated and edited by Women of China)