China to focus on asymptomatic patients as 50% of confirmed cases show no symptoms: top medical expert
Global Times
Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/16 19:37:49
China still faces challenges from imported coronavirus cases and asymptomatic patients, which are now two major focuses, especially as about 50 percent of patients do not show clinical symptoms like fever, Zhong Nanshan, the country's top medical expert, told a videoconference with European medical experts on Thursday.
The overall outbreak has been brought under control, Zhong said, noting that the big challenge is the imported cases that increase pressure on border regions. "Hopefully, countries like Spain, Italy and France can soon flatten the curve; after that, the infection numbers would drop," he said at the videoconference supported by Tencent and GE Healthcare on Thursday.
China needs to implement effective measures and social distancing, and once a confirmed patient is found, all their relatives and family members as well as close contacts should be isolated, the medical expert noted.
Countries need to strike a balance between resumption of work and prevention and control work. If strict controls lead to a halt in economic activities it would also be a major problem, but countries should always put human life in first place, Zhong said.
Given the rise of asymptomatic patients, Zhong said Chinese authorities are paying attention to the matter, which has been reflected in the data released. "About 50 percent of patients don't show symptoms. Cough and fatigue might be the first symptoms to appear," he said.
China has so far reported a total of 6,764 asymptomatic infections, of whom 1,297 were later classified as confirmed patients, according to the National Health Commission on Wednesday.
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