posted on Mar, 26 2020 @ 10:30 PM
UPDATE: Scientists Explain Success Of COVID-19 Strategies In China
WUHAN -- On Thursday, Dr. Jin Zhengxi, assistant director of the Department of Emergency Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, outlined
efforts undertaken by officials to successfully control the spread and severity of the COVID-19 disease outbreak in China.
"At first we were overwhelmed and the outlook was not good," Dr. Jin said. "The turning point came when we adopted a two-pronged approach based on
case reclassification and treatment prevention."
Scientists discovered that the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections could be controlled using a technique known as "case reclassification". Studies
revealed that reclassifying COVID-19 cases as other illnesses, such as viral pneumonia, was able to achieve a rapid and direct reduction in the number
of reported SARS-CoV-2 infections.
"The effect of case reclassification was dramatic in itself," Dr. Jin continued, "but it was only with the addition of treatment prevention that we
were finally able to bring the disease completely under control."
Unlike case reclassification, which is only possible once cases are reported, treatment prevention seeks to eliminate COVID-19 cases before they
become a problem for health officials. Although implementation can be difficult when challenged by prospective patients or their families, treatment
prevention reduces depletion of often scarce medical resources and avoids negative outcomes associated with overwhelmed healthcare facilities.
Dr. Jin cautioned that studies of the effectiveness of case reclassification and treatment prevention have not been peer-reviewed, but that results
have so far been encouraging.
"Without these techniques, the situation would be much worse," he said.
NOTE: This article was prepared in accordance with accepted contemporary journalistic standards. Accordingly, any existence of sources cited or
resemblance of any claims made herein to actual facts or objective reality in any way is unintentional and purely coincidental.