中文 FRANÇAIS
Home     Nation      World      Business      Opinion      Lifestyle      ChinAfrica      Multimedia      Columnists      Documents      Special Reports
ChinAfrica
Solidarity in a Crisis
China shares its COVID-19 scientific gains to help curb the global pandemic
By Li Xiaoyu | VOL.12 April ·2020-04-09
Members of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19 investigate in Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province in central China, on February 23 (CNSPHOTO)
Silent, devastating and moving freely – diseases have no borders and viruses don't carry passports. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of March 11, the new coronavirus had infected more than 118,000 people in 114 countries and regions, leaving 4,291 people dead. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference held in Geneva on the same day that COVID-19 could now be termed a pandemic. He called on the international community on several occasions to unite to overcome this new health crisis facing humanity.

In China, the curve of coronavirus infections seems to have waned over the last several weeks.

In response to the virus' threatening advance in many countries, also on March 11, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that China was ready to contribute to the global fight. In fact, the battle fought in China from the very start of the epidemic opened a window of opportunity for the rest of the world.

Open source data

On December 30, 2019, the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic in China, submitted the first samples taken from infected patients to the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Only 72 hours later, the complete sequencing of the new virus genome had been completed. Soon after, a genomic comparison confirmed that Wuhan was dealing with a completely new coronavirus. Having the genome sequence is like having access to the virus' Big Data, which makes it possible to understand its development and track its possible mutations.

The institute was quick to share this key information with the rest of the world. On January 12, it submitted the data to the WHO before publishing it on the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) portal. The WHO praised the speed with which China detected the epidemic and sequenced the genome before sharing it with the world, calling it "very impressive." On January 30, at a press conference held in Geneva, the WHO chief hailed "China's commitment to transparency and support for other countries."

But the research doesn't stop there. To better understand the characteristics of the virus, Chinese researchers still had to isolate the viral strains. As explained by Li Lanjuan, an epidemiologist and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, this process will form the basis for future vaccine development, detection of antiviral drugs and the development of reagents for rapid detection. Researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention managed to isolate the virus as early as January 7, just five days after receiving the samples.

On January 24, information related to this first isolated viral strain, its image taken by an electron microscope, as well as the primers and probes for the detection of COVID-19 through nucleic acid testing were made public on the website of the National Microbiology Data Center (NMDC). Through a service system on novel coronavirus science and technology resources launched on the same day on the website, people can get related information freely. Just three hours later, CNN reported this information. The next day, Reuters asked for the right to reproduce the electron micrograph of the virus. According to Ma Juncai, Director of the NMDC, who is also one of the designers of the service system, people can now take advantage of this platform, to track the progress of Chinese research on the virus.

"It shows just how open our studies are," he told China Science Daily. Within 10 days of its launch, the system had already received 6.25 million visits, many of which came from international research institutes.

Reagents for rapid detection play an essential role in the detection and control of infection sources (CNSPHOTO)

Sharing experience

In addition to sharing its research data with the international community, China is also keen to share its anti-epidemic experience with the rest of the world.

From February 16 to 24, China hosted the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19, which visited Beijing, Sichuan and Guangdong provinces and Wuhan to carry out a field study. The team of experts on the mission drew several lessons from its investigation that can be applied in the global fight. Head of Mission Bruce Aylward, who is also a senior adviser to the Director General of the WHO, told CGTN that thanks to China's experience, other countries will not have to start from scratch.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, as of March 11, China had published seven versions of its diagnosis and treatment plan in multiple languages, as well as six versions of its prevention and control plan. China shared this information with more than 100 countries and over 10 international and regional organizations. In addition, around 20 technical exchanges were organized in the form of videoconferences, covering subjects such as laboratory tests, epidemiological surveys, clinical diagnosis and treatment.

To better help counter the ongoing health crisis, China also sent teams of volunteer experts to Iran and Italy, two of the main centers of the epidemic outside China, on February 29 and March 11. The teams brought with them medical support equipment, including test kits for coronavirus and medical respirators.

Zhou Xiaohang, leader of the Chinese team dispatched to Iran, said the test kits were of major importance given the current situation in Iran. Indeed, reagents for rapid detection can confirm cases of suspected infection and isolate them earlier, which is very useful in detecting and controlling sources of infection. In the early stages of the epidemic, China also faced a shortage of test kits. The concerted efforts of scientists and companies made it possible to develop the 10 nucleic acid reagents for rapid detection and the five antibody reagents for rapid detection that are used in China today. They have been distributed in Chinese hospitals and given to a number of other countries including Iran, Italy, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

On March 7, China announced a donation of $20 million to the WHO in support of its coordination of global efforts against the epidemic of COVID-19. WHO Director General Tedros expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Government for overcoming its own difficulties, while reaching out to other countries at this critical moment.

Comments to lixiaoyu@chinafrica.cn

About Us    |    Contact Us    |    Advertise with Us    |    Subscribe
Copyright Beijing Review All rights reserved 京ICP备08005356号-5 京公网安备110102005860
Chinese Dictionary: