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Coronavirus: China ‘not headed for second wave’ despite new surge around the world
- Chinese infectious disease expert says controls in place mean country unlikely to have another burst of widespread transmission
- Sporadic outbreaks expected and preventive efforts should not be relaxed, Zhong Nanshan says
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A serious “second wave” of coronavirus infections is not expected in China, the country’s top infectious disease expert said on the weekend as parts of Europe braced for a new round of lockdowns and the number of fresh cases for the week soared to a record 2 million around the world.
Leading infectious disease specialist Zhong Nanshan told at a medical conference on Saturday that even though China continued to battle sporadic outbreaks, existing controls meant there was unlikely to be a resurgence of widespread transmission “in the tens of thousands”.
“We have accumulated invaluable experience. The central government has adopted a strategy of blocking the spread from the epicentre, while practising upstream control with mass prevention methods elsewhere,” Zhong said. “This is the key to our decisive victory.”
A day earlier, he told an online pharmaceutical forum that a second wave appeared to have started in other parts of the world.
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China’s city of Kashgar finds 137 new coronavirus cases after infected teen sets off mass testing
China’s city of Kashgar finds 137 new coronavirus cases after infected teen sets off mass testing
Zhong’s comments came as China took sweeping measures to control an outbreak in Kashgar, locking down the city in the western region of Xinjiang and testing roughly 4.75 million people in about three days.
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