Zhong Nanshan, Head of China's COVID-19 Expert Team

Zhong Nanshan, Head of China's COVID-19 Expert Team

Zhong Nanshan is director of the National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and a leading Chinese expert in preventing and treating respiratory infectious diseases.

During the outbreak of SARS in 2003, Zhong led a group of scientists to explore effective prevention and treatment measures. His team was the first to formulate a set of standards for clinical diagnosis of SARS, which was recognized by the WHO experts as significantly valuable for the global combat against SARS. Guangdong province, where Zhong worked, was one of the SARS-hit areas with the highest cure rate and the lowest mortality rate in the world.

When the novel coronavirus epidemic broke out in early 2020, the 84-year-old Zhong returned to the battlefield and was appointed to head both China's COVID-19 Expert Team and the High-level Expert Group of the NHC. After his field trip to Wuhan, he warned in a TV interview that there was a phenomenon of human-to-human transmission for the novel coronavirus. During the outbreak, Zhong educated the public about the virus, updated them on the trend of the epidemic as well as relative drug R&D. He also led his team to focus on curing severe cases, critically ill cases and cases with complex diseases. He is hailed by the Chinese people as a "national idol" and a "one-of-a-kind talent."

钟南山：新冠肺炎疫情科研攻关专家组组长

钟南山，中国国家呼吸系统疾病临床医学研究中心主任，中国工程院院士，中国防治呼吸道传染病的领军人。2003年，面对非典疫情，钟南山带领课题组在全世界率先探索出了一套富有明显疗效的防治经验，最早制定出《非典型肺炎临床诊断标准》，被世界卫生组织专家组认为对全世界抗击非典型肺炎具有指导意义。他所在的广东成为全球非典病人治愈率最高、死亡率最低的地区之一。

2020年新冠肺炎疫情爆发，84岁的钟南山再度“出山”，出任新冠肺炎疫情联防联控工作机制科研攻关专家组组长、国家卫生健康委高级别专家组组长。在赴武汉进行调研考察后，他接受电视采访，指出新冠病毒存在人传人的现象。疫情期间，钟南山向公众普及新冠病毒信息、疫情防控情况、药物研发进展，带领团队重点攻关重症、危重症和疑难病人诊治，被普遍赞誉为“全民偶像”“国士无双”。