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Beijing should act quickly on outbreak alerts, share data globally: WHO
The WHO-China report, which is also very effusive about the steps China took to control the disease, comes in the backdrop of reports that say not only local medical and government authorities, the top leadership of Communist Party of China-ruled country was well aware of the outbreak by early January.
China should overcome “obstacles” against acting immediately on early alerts and share key disease data “more clearly” internationally, the WHO-led team which carried out a 14-day investigation into the ongoing covid-19 outbreak in the country has said.
Until Saturday, the infection had killed nearly 3,000 people and infected more than 82,000 globally with the WHO bumping up the international public health emergency category to the “highest level” – possibly the highest before declaring it a pandemic.
China on Saturday reported at least 47 new deaths, taking the toll to 2,835 and added another 427 confirmed cases of covid-19 to take the number of total infections to 79,251, the national health commission (NHC) said.
Of the 427 new cases, four cases of covid-19 were reported from outside the Hubei province, the outbreak epicentre.
The WHO-China report, which is also very effusive about the steps China took to control the disease, comes in the backdrop of reports that say not only local medical and government authorities, the top leadership of Communist Party of China-ruled country was well aware of the outbreak by early January.
President Xi Jinping had held a meeting to discuss the disease and it containment on January 7 – several days before any alert was publicly sounded.
The covid-19 outbreak is said to have broken out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province in early December – even November according to one report – but containment measures and restrictions were put in place only weeks later – a crucial time lost in the fight against an unknown and deadly pathogen.
The report also indicates that the initial medics who were treating covid-19 cases were not protected against the virulence of the pathogen.
“While the scale and impact of China’s COVID-19 operation has been remarkable, it has also highlighted areas for improvement in public health emergency response capacity,” the report said.
“These include overcoming any obstacles to act immediately on early alerts, to massively scale-up capacity for isolation and care, to optimise the protection of frontline health care workers in all settings, to enhance collaborative action on priority gaps in knowledge and tools, and to more clearly communicate key data and developments internationally,” the 40-page report says.
The report on “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (covid-19)” jointly compiled by WHO and the NHC identified the disease as a “zoonotic virus”, which jumped from animal to human, adding that there is no known “…pre-existing immunity in humans”, and everyone is assumed to be susceptible to infection.
The report was drawn up by the WHO-China joint team, which visited Beijing, Guangzhou, Sichuan, and Wuhan between February 16 and 24.
The report added that human-to-human transmission was largely happening within families.
The report said that bats appear to be the reservoir of the virus, but the intermediate host(s) has not yet been identified
“Airborne transmission has not been reported for covid-19 and it is not believed to be a major source of transmission based on available evidence,” the report stated.
The “cordon sanitaire” around Wuhan and neighbouring cities imposed since January 23 has effectively prevented further exportation of infected individuals to the rest of the country, the report added.
“In the face of a previously unknown virus, China has rolled out perhaps the most ambitious, agile, and aggressive disease containment effort in the history,” the report said.
“The strategy that underpinned this containment effort was initially a national approach that promoted universal temperature monitoring, masking, and hand washing. However, as the outbreak evolved, and knowledge was gained, a science and risk-based approach was taken to tailor implementation,” it added.
The implementation of these containment measures has been supported and enabled by the innovative and aggressive use of cutting-edge technologies, from shifting to online medical platforms for routine care and schooling to the use of 5G platforms to facilitate rural response operations, it stated.
The report recommended that China should maintain “…an appropriate level of emergency management protocols, depending on the assessed risk in each area and recognising the real risk of new cases and clusters of covid-19 as economic activity resumes, movement restrictions are lifted, and schools reopen”.
“Carefully monitor the phased lifting of the current restrictions on movement and public gatherings, beginning with the return of workers and migrant labor, followed by the eventual reopening of schools and lifting other measures,” it further recommended.
China sends team to Iran help fight against coronavirus
China has sent a group of experts to Iran to help combat the novel coronavirus in the country, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying has said.
She said on Twitter that the Chinese experts are on their way to Iran.
The coronavirus disease is enemy of all, Hua said, adding “we must fight together”.
During his phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier, state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi said China will continue to provide assistance within its capabilities to Iran in curbing the epidemic and treating the sick.
China has already donated a batch of nucleic acid detection kits and medical supplies to Iran.
