Barely 48 hours after the death of Dr. Wenliang, Chinese authorities have announced that new infections of the SARS-CoV-2 (which has now been named COVID-19) have reduced for the third day in a row.
When Dr. Wenliang an ophthalmologist warned of the disease, the Public Security Bureau in China claimed he was making comments that were not true.
The deadly disease was first discovered in China’s central Hubei province in December and has since claimed over 1,600 people. On Sunday, the number of deaths rose to 1665 in mainland China after 142 more deaths occurred.
Over 68,000 people have been infected but new infections of the COVID-19 strain have kept dropping. In the most devastated region, Hubei, new infections have reduced for the third day running.
Elsewhere in the country, new infections have been declining for twelve consecutive days.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaking at the Munich Security Conference it was “impossible to predict the way the outbreak of the coronavirus would develop.”
W.H.O has requested China to provide more information on the way coronavirus diagnosis is made.
A group of W.H.O experts will be in Beijing this weekend to collaborate with their Chinese counterparts to help in fighting the coronavirus epidemic.
Faster diagnosis is the key
The key to finding solutions will depend on how fast the diagnoses will be done.
W.H.O. has revealed that international specialized laboratories have been set up to help each countries’ labs in the diagnosis process.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention so far has done the diagnostic testing that is being done in the US and has also helped abroad as well.
Initially, specialists took days to get results but with the new testing kit’s distribution, results will be provided faster. A single kit can process around 750 specimens and provide results in approximately four hours.
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