Months still to go in global coronavirus spread, top Chinese scientist warns
- Epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan says disease will keep extending its reach around the world and China’s southern manufacturing hub should shift gears to stop imported cases
- Covid-19 on track to becoming endemic, according to Hong Kong specialist
“The development of the global epidemic is projected to continue until at least June,” Zhong said, addressing a disease prevention meeting in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Friday.
“Health checks at borders need to be strengthened and quarantine policies should be established for travellers from areas overseas affected by the epidemic,” he said.
“For areas seriously hit by the new coronavirus, Guangdong may need to send aid such as protective gear, test kits and treatment technology.”
Apart from four cases in the northwestern province of Gansu, all of the new cases were in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, according to the National Health Commission.
As infections subside, government services are starting to resume, with schools in two provinces, Guizhou and Qinghai, expected to reopen within the next two weeks.
Epidemic restrictions in three “low-risk” counties in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, have been lifted and more are expected to follow.
Coronavirus: Hong Kong should impose travel restrictions on anyone coming from Italy or India, government adviser says
But the coronavirus is spreading to the rest of the world, with more than 28,000 confirmed cases in over 100 other countries.
South Korea and Italy each have more than 7,000 cases. Italy also had 366 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll outside China, as of Sunday.
Benjamin Cowling, head of epidemiology and biostatistics at Hong Kong University’s school of public health, said he did not think Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could be contained.
China’s success at containing the first wave of infections came at considerable political and economic cost, which would be too difficult to apply in other countries, according to Cowling.
“I think Covid-19 will become endemic,” he said.
“I don’t think the measures applied in China can be used in other countries, they would be considered too draconian, and the technology infrastructure for monitoring and restricting individual movements is generally not available.”
Cowling said the virus was likely to spread to every country and eventually become a seasonal coronavirus.
“I hope that repeated infections will be less severe than the first infection for each person, and perhaps more like the common cold,” he said.
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