Since January 23, the lockdown of the Hubei region, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus surpassed 71,000 in mainland China. Despite strict measures from the government such as household quarantine, the virus outbreak is showing little signs of slowing down.
Data from the South China Morning Post indicates 1,775 individuals have passed away due to coronavirus, but more than 10,000 people have recovered.
What can China do at this point to contain coronavirus?
Various footage including videos and photographs from citizen journalists in Wuhan have shown that the government has taken extreme measures to contain coronavirus.
Taking the warnings from top virologists in China stating that the government has already missed a critical window of containment, the Communist Party of China has locked down more than 50 million people across the country.
Research from several highly-regarded institutions in Hong Kong and the U.K. have said the peak of the outbreak is set to be reached in April to May of 2020.
Yet, the Hubei region, which houses more than 58.5 million individuals, has been placed under complete lockdown. Millions of individuals are unable to work and reports show that many people are unable to leave their home.
With confirmed cases in the Hubei region still increasing at a rapid rate and the number of total cases in China expected to hit 100,000 in the short-term, the effectiveness of the lockdown has started to be questioned.
Due to the highly contagious nature of coronavirus, it is difficult to move patients in Wuhan and other cities to major cities outside of the Hubei region.
While extra facilities and hospitals have been built, medical staff and centers have been overload since mid-January, leaving many patients suffering from coronavirus unassisted.
There’s one solution
One immediate solution to better containing the coronavirus outbreak in the Hubei region is to treat existing patients with plasma taken from individuals that have recovered.
Several hospitals in Wuhan are said to be using this method to cure as many patients as possible.
Some individuals in the U.S. and other countries like Thailand have been treated with unorthodox methods such as experimental medicine.
China has indicated confidence in overcoming the coronavirus outbreak.
In a recent speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping showed confidence in overcoming the coronavirus outbreak. He discussed the economic and social development goals of China, encouraging local governments to align their focus on economic growth.
Analysts remain unconvinced that coronavirus can be contained in the near-term and as such, the criticism towards the Communist Party of China has started to intensify as of late.
This article was edited by Samburaj Das.
