Hubei Province, 62-Day Lockdown Was Brought to an End

NEW YORK, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 24th, 2020, at 9:00 am, China's Hubei Province, ground zero for the pandemic, lifted nearly all lockdown restrictions. Hubei province, where China's outbreak of coronavirus first began, saw its 62-day lockdown brought to an end. What has China experienced since the outbreak? The World Health Organization conducted a detailed and comprehensive investigation. Reviewing the "China-World Health Organization COVID-19 Joint Inspection Report" from the official website of China's CDC, People's Daily Online summarizes 30 key highlights from the report to help people understand what was taking place in China during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The joint inspection team consists of 25 experts from China, the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Singapore, and the World Health Organization. The leader of the joint inspection team is Dr. Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organization. 

Over nine days, the joint inspection team conducted field inspections and surveys in Beijing, Sichuan (Chengdu), Guangdong (Guangzhou, Shenzhen) and Hubei (Wuhan) from February 16th to the 24th 2020. In addition to the necessary technical exchanges, after the inspection, the experts of the joint inspection team conducted internal discussions summarizing the findings and conclusions of the investigation. They put forward suggestions for the next steps.

The main findings of the joint investigation team are divided into six areas: virus, outbreak, transmission dynamics, disease process and severity, China's response measures, and knowledge limitations.

In terms of viruses, it was reported that the entire genome sequence of nCoV-19 and the existing whole-genome sequences of other β-coronal viruses were compared by consensus. The virus and the entire genome of the SARS-like coronavirus RaTG13 strain carried by bats showed the relationship is recent, with a homology of 96%.

In terms of outbreaks, reports indicate that COVID-2019 is an animal-derived virus. The results of phylogenetic analysis of whole-genome sequences show that bats appear to be hosts of the virus, but intermediate hosts have not been identified. China has been working on three critical areas of animal traceability in this epidemic: the early investigation of the outbreak cases in Wuhan in December 2019; an environmental sampling of the Wuhan Seafood Market; and wild animals sold in the Wuhan Seafood Market, involving a detailed investigation of the origin and species of these animals and the fate of these animals after the market closed.

Regarding the route of transmission, the report showed that COVID-2019 was transmitted between infected people through droplets and close contact without protection. There are no reports of airborne transmission based on available evidence. However, there may be a possibility of airborne transmission in a medical institution due to aerosols generated by medical procedures. Fecal detoxification has been confirmed in some patients, and the live virus was also found in a small number of cases. However, based on the existing evidence, the fecal-oral transmission does not seem to be the primary mode of communication of new coronary pneumonia and its role in the transfer of COVID-2019, and the position remains to be clarified.

The interpersonal transmission of COVID-2019 in China occurs mainly in families and is susceptible to almost everyone. Further research is needed to determine whether they have immunity after infection.

People's Daily summarized 30 key highlights from the Report of WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019, which are outlined as follows:

http://en.people.cn/n3/2020/0303/c90000-9664275.html?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0

Media Contact:
Wei Deng
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62-day lockdown was brought to an end
Hubei province, where China's outbreak of coronavirus first began, was unblocked this morning after a 62-day lockdown was brought to an end.

SOURCE The People's Daily Online West USA