Anchor:
In this earthquake-ravaged stretch of southwestern China, health authorities are facing the daunting task of caring for millions of homeless people.

Besides daily necessities such as tents, drinking water and vaccines, disease prevention is also hot on the agenda. How does the Chinese government ensure the health of destitute survivors in shelters? CRI Reporter Chen Xi gives you a glimpse of China's anti-epidemic campaign in the region.

Reporter:
Mianyang's Jiuzhou Gymnasium, a stadium-turned-refugee-center in the city, is the biggest temporary shelter for survivors, with around 20,000 people living here.

Local sanitation team leader, Li Yu, confirms that officials in Mianyang have managed to prevent epidemics from occurring, because workers have carried out around-the-clock disease prevention work.

"There has been absolutely no epidemic up till now. We have started rigorous surveillance and tracing for anyone with diarrhea or a fever. Disinfection work is implemented widely, covering any places with survivors, such as toilets and garbage collection areas."

Li Yu says sanitation and disease prevention workers are disinfecting the inside and outside of the gymnasium and the surrounding streets twice a day, especially garbage and toilets.

A volunteer disinfectant sprayer from China's Jiujiang city in Jiangxi Province has been here for five days. He talks about his daily routine.

"We spray the disinfectant on a daily basis and take a short break when we feel tired. We are divided into groups to disinfect the major areas such as lawns, toilets, the entrance of sewers and garbage bins."

He says more than 130 sanitation workers are on the job every day to guarantee the hygiene of the settlement.

Apart from the living environment, local officials have guaranteed ample suppies of potable water.

Chen Liansheng, an official at a disease-control center in Jiangsu Province, says workers are searching for local wellsprings to complement exisiting water supplies for survivors.

"The experts have traced the rivers upstream to a non-polluted area. The scene and lab water quality tests have proved its quality for living use. As for the downstream condition, we have to fetch water from a place three kilometers away from here. It may be suitable for drinking after being sterilized and boiled."

Mobile toilets to supplement permanent lavatories, water dispensers, laptops for surfing the Internet, free phone calls and psychological counseling are available in the settlement.

Chen Xi, CRI News, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province