Apple News Facebook Twitter 新浪微博 Instagram YouTube Wednesday, Mar 15, 2023
Search
Archive
English>>

What experience can China share with the world in combating COVID-19?

(People's Daily Online)    16:09, April 03, 2020

China is seeing positive signs on all fronts in its battle against the novel coronavirus epidemic, as domestic transmissions have “basically been stopped”, according to the National Health Commission. How has China responded to the outbreak and what experience can it share with other countries, which are now being hit hard by the virus?

Strong leadership

President Xi Jinping inspects the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared a “people’s war” against the novel coronavirus epidemic by mobilizing the entire country. Epidemic response has been on the agenda in a series of Party leadership meetings Xi chaired since early January. As commander-in-chief of China's war against COVID-19, he also flew into Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, on March 10 to inspect the epidemic prevention and control work on the ground.

Massive mobilization

Military medical staff airlifted by eight large transport planes of the air force of the People's Liberation Army arrive at Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

About 42,600 medics, including thousands of military medical experts, were dispatched to Hubei from across the country. Academicians, leading experts on respiratory illnesses and infectious diseases, and one-tenth of the country's intensive care specialists were all called in to the epicenter.

In Wuhan, 86 hospitals were designated to treat COVID-19 patients, two new hospitals, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan were built from scratch in just two weeks, and 16 exhibition halls and sports venues were converted into makeshift hospitals, opening up 60,000 beds for COVID-19 patients in just a month.

Concerted efforts by people across the nation

While medics and scientists battled the previously unknown virus head-on, hundreds of millions of people abandoned their holiday plans to stay at home in quarantine.

In a huge country with a population of 1.4 billion, people acted in an orderly manner; they heeded the government's advice and locked themselves in their homes for weeks on end.

Cities were locked down, businesses suspended and public events canceled, all for the purpose of cutting the transmission routes of COVID-19.

Tips on tight prevention and control

Medical workers pose for photos after seeing cured patients off at the Wuchang temporary hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 10, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

China's epidemic control work mainly focuses on three aspects: tight control of the infection source, breaking the chain of transmission and protecting the susceptible population.

Detecting infected people, keeping them in quarantine and giving them medical treatment have effectively controlled the source of infection. To cut the chain of transmission, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention stressed the importance of wearing face masks, washing hands and ensuring good ventilation. Meanwhile, it is important to use different treatments for patients with different conditions. Specifically, patients with mild symptoms should be kept in quarantine and monitored for any change in their condition, while severe and critical cases need to be treated promptly in medical institutions.

Scientific and medical achievements

A researcher shows the experiment to develop an mRNA vaccine targeting the novel coronavirus in east China's Shanghai, Jan. 29, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Universities, research institutes and businesses are working together to improve diagnostics, vaccines and medicines. The latest rapid test kit can show results in 15 minutes by examining a single drop of blood. And the government has made it clear: once confirmed, patients should not be worried about expenses, as treatment is free.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has also proven to be effective in the treatment of over 90 percent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland.

In addition, innovative technologies like robots and drones were deployed to help authorities and hospitals during the outbreak. They performed a range of intelligent functions such as automatic disinfection, measuring temperatures, medicine delivery to patients and disseminating the latest information on epidemic control to the public.

International cooperation

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic welcomes a team of Chinese medical workers with experience fighting COVID-19 as they arrive in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on March 21, 2020. (Photo_Xinhua)

China has actively carried out international cooperation in fighting the novel coronavirus disease, promptly sharing epidemic prevention and control experience and technologies with over 180 countries and more than 10 international and regional organizations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the extraordinary G20 leaders' summit on March 26 showed China's commitment as a major country to promoting international cooperation in the COVID-19 fight.

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)
(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)

Add your comment

Most Read

Hot News

We Recommend

Photos

prev next

Related reading

Full coverage