US media calls for learning from China in fight against COVID-19

Some mainstream US media called for learning China’s experiences in fighting against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia as the epidemic situation is gradually improving in China, including Hubei Province, the epicenter of the deadly outbreak.

The number of new infections and deaths reported in China has been declining in recent weeks, reported US news outlet VOX on Monday, March 2, comparing it with the rate of infected cases that continues to soar in a few other countries, including South Korea, Italy, Iran, and the US.

“It’s now critical that the rest of the world learn as much as it can from China’s efforts to respond to and limit the spread of the virus,” VOX commented.

The key experience that other countries can learn from China is speed, said Bruce Aylward, an epidemiologist who recently led an advance team from the WHO to China.

“The faster you can find the cases, isolate the cases, and track their close contacts, the more successful you’re going to be,” Aylward told VOX Monday.

The US-based Fortune magazine affirmed China's fast speed in the fight against the virus in an article published on Wednesday. It cited Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control, who praised China’s rapid response and containment efforts at a local public briefing on Monday.

The numerous experiences of frontline Chinese medical staffers treating and curing COVID-19 patients may help doctors and nurses of other countries deal with the virus, US media said.

Hospitals in the rest of the world will likely also benefit from that knowledge, NPR reported Tuesday. “The more patients (Wuhan) medical staff saw, the more they could start identifying what kind of supportive care made a difference,” it added.

Apart from medical care, China’s efforts in mitigating the risk of virus infection at the community level are also worthwhile experiences for other countries.

When some countries are worried about the already happened gatherings and movements of people, China has demonstrated the right way to reduce the possibility of the virus transmission, VOX quoted Aylward as saying.

Aylward suggested them to learn from China’s systematic work of case finding and contact tracing, which “definitely can change the shape of the outbreak,” he added.

Source：Global Times

A 7-month-old infant is discharged from a hospital in Shanghai after recovery from COVID-19. (Photo by Yang Hui, Global Times)