Senior WHO official praises China’s phenomenal collective action in combating coronavirus
By Zhang Penghui, People’s Daily
The team lead for the
WHO-China joint mission on novel coronavirus Bruce Aylward on Tuesday praised China’s agile disease
containment effort at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, saying this
has not only largely reduced the new infections in the country, but also earned
valuable time and offered experiences for other countries to get prepared.
Aylward introduced the
mission’s trip to China, shared China’s experiences in combating the virus, and
made suggestions on global epidemic control.
The WHO-China joint
mission on novel coronavirus consists of 25 Chinese and foreign experts who
went for field investigations to Beijing, Guangdong, Sichuan and Hubei during
their 9-day stay in China. They conducted comprehensive and in-depth
investigation into the epidemic situations, control measures, treatment,
community-level prevention and scientific research in the country and relevant provinces,
and submitted a report to the Chinese government and WHO.
Aylward said China has
made remarkable achievements in combating the virus, with a sharp drop in the
number of new cases of infection and patients in severe and critical
conditions, which may have saved hundreds of thousands of people from
infection.
According to the general
law of epidemiology, said the WHO official, pointing to graphics of the
epidemic statistics in China, there is always a rapid growth of cases after the
outbreak of epidemics such as the novel coronavirus pneumonia. However, experts
believe that China’s intervention has obviously changed the curves on the
graphics. Every difference and every line represents a powerful decision by
policymakers and tremendous efforts benefiting a large number of Chinese
people, he said.
At the press conference,
Aylward shared China’s effective approaches to contain the epidemic, in
particular its mobilization and science-based measures. He believes that
China’s strong mobilization and execution, as well as its people’s devotion and
optimism have strongly facilitated the implementation of control measures.
"They are using big
data, artificial intelligence (AI) in places," Aylward said, adding that
the country has also established fever clinics and online diagnosis systems.
Besides, QR code has also been used as passes that indicate citizens’ health
conditions.
Sharing what he saw in
China, Aylward introduced that some Chinese medical staff working on the
frontline even dropped off in the meetings with the joint mission because of
the exhausting work. He was also impressed by the medical teams across the
country that entered Hubei for assistance taking personal protective equipment
and medical devices, with some hospitals even being taken over, which is
unimaginable in other countries.
He used “ghost town” to
describe Wuhan as citizens stayed at home to contain the spread of the virus. “But
behind every window in every skyscraper there are people co-operating with this
response,” Aylward said, adding that China has demonstrated phenomenal
collective action and cooperation spirit.
Every person has a sense
that they're mobilized like in a war against the virus and they are organized,
he said.
According to a data model
offered by WHO’s partner experts, the measures taken by China to contain the
flow of the people have slowed the spread the virus by 2 to 3 days in China,
and 2 to 3 weeks in other parts of the world.
The novel coronavirus
pneumonia is affecting many places around the world, and rapid response is
called for to prevent the disease from becoming a pandemic, Aylward said,
adding that China’s prevention and control proved that the epidemic is
controllable with strict measures.
Aylward suggested that
countries evaluate potential risks based on scientific approaches, prepare
hospital beds, quarantine facilities, ICUs and test labs in advance, and
conduct training for personnel for quick response. Besides, he also urged
countries to pay attention to the spread of information and enhance communication
with China for experiences, and called for cooperation from the public.
Senior WHO official praises China’s phenomenal collective action in combating coronavirus
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