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At present, China's strategies for the prevention and control of COVID-19 have achieved great success, basically interrupting virus transmission in local communities. But a strong suppression effort must continue to prevent re-establishment of community transmission from imported cases, according to a paper recently published in
The Lancet.
The research paper led by Dr Gaofu, head of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Prof. Feng Zijian, deputy director-general of the CDC, warns that China may face the risk of a potential second wave as most people in the country are still susceptible to COVID-19 because of the lack of immunity.
Key strategies and measures in China
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe with more than 411,000 fatalities worldwide. China has successfully contained the pandemic by adopting two overarching strategies – containment and suppression.
A containment strategy applies to an early-stage epidemic in a geographically limited area, taking measures that prevent human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and importation and exportation of virus infection. China's main containment strategy is to trace and quarantine close contacts of COVID-19 patients, and impose strict restrictions on population movement when feasible and appropriate.
While the suppression strategy is mainly adopted when an epidemic occurs in multiple areas with varying degrees of outbreak and community spread.
In a bid to successfully contain the pandemic, the two core containment and suppression strategies are of great importance, not only at the early stage of the epidemic but also during a later community transmission stage, which requires combined efforts.
Stay alert and save more time for developing vaccines
With the potential danger of a second wave of infections looming large, Zhong Nanshan, China's top respiratory expert, also cautioned during
an interview with CNN
that authorities should not be complacent and China still faces the "big challenge" of a potential second wave of COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the paper, China continues to rely on community networks to promote precise epidemic prevention and control, which in other ways requires everyone to stay alert, in case of a second wave of the pandemic.
What we now face is a global virus that is totally new, extraordinary complex and highly damaging. The lack of immunity among the population has gradually become a serious concern as the global race to develop a vaccine continues.
We are all expecting an effective COVID-19 vaccine that could possibly end the pandemic.
However, the development of an effective vaccine is not that easy and could be years in the making. Only by international collaboration, sharing and innovation, can we focus on speedy creation of such a vaccine, and help the trajectory of the pandemic change for the better.
(Cover: CGTN screenshot via the Lancet website.)
