There is no evidence that the people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus after recovery can transmit virus to others, said a Chinese expert during a press conference on Tuesday.
The press conference was held in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak in central China's Hubei Province, with front-line experts attending, answering questions from journalists in Beijing via video call.
Some people tested positive again in central China's Hubei Province after being discharged, but there is no proof so far that they have the ability to transmit the virus to others, said Du Bin, chairman of the Critical Care Medical Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.
COVID-19 vs. SARS
Cao Bin, vice president of China-Japan Friendship Hospital and deputy dean of Respiratory Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, shared the similarities and differences between the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and SARS.
"Both of the viruses belong to the coronavirus family," he said. "From genomic sequencing analysis we can find that both viruses share 75 percent of similarity."
Although there are similarities, the two viruses and the diseases they cause are different.
Cao said the mortality in SARS was about 10 percent, and the mortality of COVID-19 is about three to four percent in Hubei Province and less than one percent outside of Hubei.
COVID-19 has a lower mortality rate than SARS, but it's more infectious, he added.
Will there be another spike?
"There are always possibilities," said Du, answering question of whether there will be a new spike in the number of newly confirmed cases in China.
"However… not only in Wuhan, in Hubei, but also other provinces in China, the newly diagnosed, as well as the suspected cases, have been decreasing sharply and persistently."
Du said that he was notified by colleagues in hospitals in Wuhan that there has been an increase in vacancies.
"According to my own judgment, it's true that we have fewer and fewer patients even in Wuhan, in Hubei Province," he said.
Suggestions to other countries
Foreign journalists from India, Japan and the UK expressed concerns about the outbreak in their own countries and asked for advice from the experts.
Qiao Jie, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Peking University Third Hospital, said that more training needed to be given to medical personnel in terms of how to treat mild and severe patients, and even how to put on and take off protective suits.
The training of people in communities is also essential. "Even wearing masks and washing hands needs step-by-step training," said Qiao.
She also suggested that medical equipment and negative pressure operating rooms need to be prepared in advance.
The keyword for infection control within hospitals is "plan," Du told the press.
"You must have plans for every suspected patient that goes to a fever clinic, a general outpatient clinic, or even the inpatient department," he said. "You must have plans to isolate individual suspected cases before confirming, or ruling out, the diagnoses."
Other public departments such as police and transportation must be involved in fighting the outbreak as well, Du emphasized.
