The slowdown in coronavirus cases out of China offers a sliver of hope that the global outbreak can be controlled, but drastic measures may be required, according to public health authorities.
With China accounting for the overwhelming majority of the world's 94,000 infections and 3200 deaths since the virus first surfaced there in late December, it's hard to see the country as a success story. But some experts believe the easing of the crisis – there are now more new cases being reported outside China than inside it – suggests containment is possible.
South Korean soldiers in protective gear disinfect the Eunpyeong district in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.Credit:Getty Images
World Health Organisation outbreak expert Maria Van Kerkhove, who recently travelled to China as part of a team from the UN health agency, said the international experts noted a drop in cases there since the end of January.
"We scrutinised this data and we believe this decline is real," she said, adding that the extraordinary measures undertaken in China – including the unprecedented lockdown of more than 60 million people – had a significant role in changing the direction of the outbreak.
"We believe that a reduction of cases in other countries, including Italy, Korea, Iran, everywhere, that this is possible," she said.
There is some consensus among public health experts: The virus is likely to be around for quite some time, perhaps many months, and will continue to spread to many places. They say it can probably be controlled with standard public health measures, though not as quickly as in China.
There is another consensus: China's outbreak has given other countries the advantage of knowing what they're up against. The virus was an unknown entity when it appeared in China, and authorities there discounted the possibility of human-to-human transmission.
The Chinese experience has bought other countries time to prepare and knowledge to better understand the nature of the virus.
Chinese shoppers wear masks in Beijing. The rate of new coronavirus cases continues to decline in that country. Credit:Getty Images
Many state labs have yet to develop their own tests because of early federal restrictions, since removed. It is still taking four to five days to get results back from tests that must be sent on to more distant labs, Del Rio said. And federal guidelines, though revised recently, continue to limit who gets tested, he said.
Federal health officials "dropped the ball, period," he said.
AP
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