Speed, political courage needed to follow China's successful COVID-19 counterattack

Replicating the success of China's counterattack elsewhere will require speed, money, imagination and political courage, according to the team leader of the China-WHO joint mission on COVID-19, Dr Bruce Aylward.

A government spokesman last Thursday said China had now passed the peak of the outbreak, thanks to the measures taken.

In a statement by CGTN, the latest data shows that over 36,000 patients had recovered in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Temporary hospitals, converted from public facilities, provided timely treatment for patients with mild symptoms. They have received over 12,000 patients.

Such remarkable progress did not come easy. The swift mobilisation of national medical resources played a key role in containing the epidemic.

The hardest-hit city in central China's Hubei Province is well on its way to recovery.

To assist the fight in Hubei, about 42,000 medical personnel from across the country were dispatched to the province, with a total of 65,000 pieces of medical equipment including ventilators and ECMOs (artificial lungs) sent to Hubei by March 3.

Treatment plans such as respiratory support and plasma therapy were tested and implemented. Traditional Chinese Medicine helped alleviate the symptoms of many patients and shorten the duration of treatment.

-- BERNAMA