By May 10, there were 82,918 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID) in China, with 4,633 deaths. In contrast, by May 9, there were more than 1.3 million confirmed cases in the United States and over 78,000 deaths, the highest in the world on both counts. 

The huge difference has led to many U.S. politicians alleging that China underreported the numbers. However, other unbiased voices around the world have acknowledged that China has been transparent about reporting the statistics and there was no way that the numbers could have been fudged. The difference occurred because though the U.S. has a better developed healthcare system, China was able to control the epidemic more effectively as the Chinese Government put the people first in the epidemic prevention and control work. 

Putting the people first is a basic principle of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in governance. Key CPC documents and communiques stress that people's interests should be put above everything else and that the Party and government should be of one mind with the people, share a common destiny with them and rely on them to propel China's history forward. 

When COVID-19 occurred, the Chinese Government put the life and safety of the people first and implemented  the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures to safeguard public life and health, regardless of the cost to the economy. Also, the government and people were united as one to wage an all-out people's war against the virus and the arduous efforts led to strategic outcomes. 

Even after the virus has been brought under control and factories and offices resumed work across the country, people's safety still remains the priority. The central as well as local governments and medical institutions have been providing guidance to ensure safety at the workplace with preventive measures such as checking employees' temperature, providing free masks to them and educating them on epidemic prevention.  

Measures are still in place to quarantine those showing signs of the disease, ensure their treatment, and facilitate their return to work after they are confirmed to have been cured. 

This people-first orientation of the government has won the trust of the Chinese. Two market research agencies, Blackbox Research and Toluna, conducted a survey in April covering 23 countries, asking about 12,500 people to rate their government's coronavirus containment measures. 

China ranked highest in the citizens' survey, scoring 85 out of 100. Also, 85 percent of the Chinese respondents said they believe their country will come out of the crisis stronger, compared to just 41 percent U.S. respondents who thought the same thing about their country.