China didn't cover up the COVID-19 pandemic and facts have proved it, said Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory professor at Guangzhou Medical University.

Zhong Nanshan (Photo/cctv.com)

Zhong made the remarks at a symposium chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping on developing a strong public health system to safeguard people's health on June 2.

The professor quoted the results released by Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, of its citywide nucleic acid test on the same day. A total of 300 asymptomatic patients were found after 9,899,828 residents in the city were tested from May 14 to June 1, with no confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The results prove that China has been honest with its pandemic report, said Zhong, adding that the country has shared pandemic-related information in a timely, open and transparent manner.

After the pandemic broke out in Wuhan, the 84-year-old professor, as head of the high-level team of experts on epidemic prevention and control, set off to Wuhan and concluded with other professionals that the virus can be transmitted from one human being to another.

Under the suggestions of the experts, the Chinese government decided to lock down Wuhan and conduct large-scale prevention and control in the rest of China, which has later been proved effective, according to Zhong.

It is because of the early research, judgment and decisive action that China has reached temporary results in epidemic prevention and control, with the infection and mortality rate ranking the lowest in the world.

Zhong also noted that China has not only actively treated the disease, but has summarized the experience and therapies in a bid to help other countries and promote the development of the discipline, which Zhong believes is a great progress compared with how the country handled SARS 17 years ago.

According to the National Natural Science Foundation of China, by May 10, 650 articles about epidemic prevention out of all the 2,150 published on authoritative journals came from China, Zhong pointed out.