http://www.bjreview.com FEBRUARY 13, 2020 BEIJING REVIEW 15
which was lower than the toll caused by the
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respiratory syndrome, but higher than that of
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Effective measures
China’s fight against the 2019-nCoV is much
more efficient than it was against SARS, said
Zhang Boli, a member of a national research
team formed to tackle the outbreak, on January
- Zhang was also part of an expert group that
had a similar task during the SARS outbreak in
It took more than three to four months
to figure out the SARS virus while it took
just over a week to identify the novel
coronavirus. Diagnostic kits were soon
developed and distributed to medical in-
stitutions across the country. China has
also released the whole genome sequence
of the virus to help scientists worldwide
develop diagnostic kits and study the viral
pathogenicity. Information on infection
cases is being released daily.
The government announced on
February 5 that application for clinical trials to
use Remdesivir, a drug that has shown good
antiviral results, for 2019-nCoV treatment had
been approved. The first batch of pneumonia
patients were expected to start taking the drug
the following day.
Information and data on clinical trials
for Lopinavir and Ritonavir, a combination of
antiviral medicine earlier used to treat HIV,
and traditional Chinese medicines are being
collected.
Zhong also said on February 2 that at least
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components of the 2019-nCoV are in clinical
research.
Meanwhile, a group of Chinese institu-
tions are developing vaccines for the novel
coronavirus, including China CDC and Tsinghua
University.
The outbreak occurred during the annual
Spring Festival travel rush, when some 3 billion
trips were expected between January 10 and
February 18, which made curbing the spread of
the disease especially challenging.
On January 20, the NHC announced
that the 2019-nCoV would be deemed a
Category B disease, the second highest levelthat also includes SARS, anthrax and AIDS.
However, Category A precautions would be
adopted, which meant patients would be
quarantined. The government announced
free diagnosis and treatment.
By January 29, 31 provincial-level regions
on the Chinese mainland had activated the
highest public health emergency response. All
communities, urban and rural, were mobilized
to prevent transmission and identify patients.
Big data and artificial intelligence technology
began to be used to trace and monitor infec-
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out whether they have shared rides with any
infected person.
The medical community’s response has
been overwhelming. Medical workers in Hubei
cut short their holiday to return to work and
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nosis and medical care. The national health
authorities mobilized more than 10,000 medi-
cal personnel from across the country to assist
doctors in Wuhan. In addition, two makeshift
hospitals were built in the city in less than half a
month to accommodate the rising number of
patients.VVA staffer checks the temperature of a passenger at the Nanjing Railway Station in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province in east China, on February 2
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