China’s scientific and technological achievements, including its achievements in biotechnology and information technology, have played important roles in the country’s recent battle against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic that hit Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, in late December 2019 and has gradually spread across the country.

5G-based telemedicine

China has pooled its medical strength and resources across the country to help with the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan, the city worst hit by the disease.

Terminal equipment of a 5G-based consultation system that enables doctors to carry out barrier-free remote mobile consultation. (Photo/People's Daily Overseas Edition)

In an effort to relieve the pressure of diagnosis and treatment in hospitals around the country, especially those regions experiencing a serious escalation of the epidemic, and minimize cross-infection, online medical consultation platforms have been quickly established in several cities, serving as the second front of the battle against the epidemic.

On Jan. 29, eight hospitals in east China’s Shanghai, including large general hospitals such as Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University and Shanghai General Hospital, as well as specialized hospitals like the Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, rolled out pilot online consultation services.

The services are aimed at providing authoritative and timely advice about the novel coronavirus for patients with symptoms such as fever, cough, and pharyngalgia.

The Internet medical center of Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province in east China’s Zhejiang Province has recently launched a dedicated line for pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.

Staffed by volunteers from all departments of the hospital, the special line has integrated Internet-based medical services including telephone counseling, counseling based on texts and pictures, diagnosis through interrogation via video, and consultation via video, providing all-weather free services for the whole of society.

Thanks to the advantage of the Internet in disseminating information quickly around the country, the online counseling based on texts and pictures has covered up to 27 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, including Hubei, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, and north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The 5G network is playing an increasingly important role in China’s efforts to combat the novel coronavirus. In the face of the epidemic, many Chinese cities have sped up their efforts to build 5G networks for the medical system.

On Jan. 26, the Health Commission of Sichuan Province and West China Hospital of Sichuan University established a 5G-based remote consultation system and immediately put it into operation. On the same day, the system helped provide remote consultation services for two critically ill patients with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.

5G facilities are also an important part of the construction of two new hospitals specially built for the epidemic, the Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital and Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan. Construction of the Huoshenshan Hospital was completed on Sunday, while the Leishenshan Hospital is expected to be completed on Feb. 5, 2020.

Data analysis

Since the afternoon of Jan. 29, a query system that enables people to check whether they have been on the same train or flight with people with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus has gone viral on social media platforms.

The system also records and releases detailed information about places the patients with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been to before they were diagnosed with the disease. In addition, the system offers the search users special tips on how to cope with the situation in a scientific way.

In order to help people find fever clinics more conveniently, China’s search engine giant Baidu launched online maps of fever clinics in some major cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu.

Based on official data from China’s National Health Commission, the online maps can clearly show the locations of fever clinics in various cities. Users can obtain information on the accurate locations of nearby fever clinics and how to get there by searching for fever clinics through the relevant apps.

In addition, Baidu has also managed to provide information about the flow of people in various areas of cities on its online maps, helping reduce the possibility of large numbers of people gathering and the risk of spreading the epidemic.

Gene sequencing

On Dec. 26, 2019, the relevant scientific research institutes collected specimens of patients with fever of unknown origin from The Central Hospital of Wuhan and Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Workers at a pharmaceutical company work overtime to produce nucleic acid detection kits for the novel coronavirus. (Photo/People's Daily Overseas Edition)

Within 10 days, these institutes discovered a coronavirus in the specimens and obtained the full genomic sequence of the virus by high-throughput sequencing, which proved that the coronavirus was a new virus that has never been found before, according to credible reports.

On Jan. 12, 2020, the WHO announced that they had received the information shared by China on genomic sequence of the coronavirus that was discovered in the specimens of patients with fever of unknown origin in Wuhan, saying the information was an important foundation for the development of targeted diagnostic tools and vaccine by governments and scientists of various countries.

Since the discovery, Chinese pharmaceutical companies have made active efforts to develop nucleic acid detection kits for the novel coronavirus, aiming to meet clinical needs as soon as possible.

Recently, a lot of good news has been emerging about the rapid diagnosis of the novel coronavirus. With China’s National Medical Products Administration approving multiple kits developed by a number of companies for nucleic acid detection of the novel coronavirus, relevant companies have worked overtime to improve production capacity so as to provide hospitals with these products as soon as possible.