International experts weigh in on COVID-19 control measures

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COVID-19 is spreading worldwide. Italy, the hardest hit country in Europe, has seen its death toll top 1,000. Politicians and celebrities – high profile figures who tested positive for COVID-19 – have shown that the coronavirus spares no one. A full-blown pandemic situation has prompted governments around the world to ramp up containment measures.

In"World Insight with Tian Wei," a virologist, a vaccinologist and clinical researchers from China, Italy and Germany, all of whom are working on the front line of the fight, weigh in on the situation.

Liu Yuanli, dean of the School of Public Health at Peking Union Medical College, thinks that temperature checking is definitely necessary and important based on the symptom medical observation. "Because patients that experience those symptoms are major drivers of the transmission, but not people mild conditions or patients without any obvious symptoms," he said.

In Bergamo, a city of about 122,000 people some 30 miles northeast of Milan, 1,245 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19. It is one of the country's worst-affected areas. Dr. Daniele Macchini, who works at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in the northern city of Bergamo, warned in a lengthy post on Facebook about the dangers of complacency in the relentless war against the virus. "I still remember my night call a week ago when I was waiting for the results of a swab. When I think about it, my anxiety over one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that I've seen what's happening. Well, the situation now is dramatic to say the least," Macchini said.

Dr. Elisabetta Groppelli, virologist and lecturer at St George's University of London, told CGTN that the Italian authorities had stepped up their response with for example, sourcing hospital beds in intensive care and equipment required.

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Sha highlighted that people don't know when a pandemic will come. The first weeks are always the hardest for the country, local authorities and medical doctors on the front line because that's when they need to react fast. It is not an easy situation to be in and very challenging.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that up to 70 percent of the German population is likely to become infected with COVID-19. She has vowed to do whatever it takes to combat the outbreak in Europe's most populous nation.

Tanvi Khera, virologist and clinical researcher at University Hospital Essen, said that Heisenberg in Germany was the original epicenter for the German outbreak of COVID-19, and one of the most populated areas of Germany.

"So that is why we have more than 600 people already infected," she said. "But I believe that the German authorities are taking all the actions and precautions in their capacity. We have a very well defined healthcare system, but for sure if German Chancellor says it's around 60 to 70 percent, they will be, but that doesn't mean that the fatality rate is going to go high," she added.

According to Khera, it would just mean that people would be exposed to the virus and they would be carrying it. The questions include whether they will be symptomatic or asymptomatic and whether they will be actually leading to a transmission, they are something that people have to follow up.

World Insight with Tian Wei is a debate and interview program. Global leaders, change-makers and people in the know provide their insights on the topics of the moment.

Schedule: Monday-Saturday

Time (GMT): 1415, 2015

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