A leading Chinese medical expert on fighting COVID-19 in Shanghai said the cooperation of the general public in implementing prevention measures is important in successfully curbing the spread of COVID-19 in Shanghai and across China.

Efforts of communicating the strategies and tactics for epidemic prevention and control to the general public have generated positive effects, even better than what we did in hospital wards to some extent, Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Disease with Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, said at a press conference in Beijing Thursday.

Zhang gained widespread popularity online amid the epidemic after many of the remarks he made when educating the general public about the novel coronavirus went viral online.

For example, to persuade people to keep social distance, he said that by staying at home, every person became a soldier in the fight and that the virus can be "suffocated."

Zhang also published two manuals elaborating on symptoms of COVID-19, treatment and prognosis, incubation period, the importance of wearing face masks and keeping social distance.

The manuals have been translated into foreign languages to help the global fight against the pandemic, Zhang said.