日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Op-Ed Contributors

Prevention is always better than cure

By Asit K. Biswas/Cecilia Tortajada | China Daily | Updated: 2020-03-04 06:54
Share
Share - WeChat
SONG CHEN/CHINA DAILY

On different occasions, Chinese top leader Xi Jinping has asked Party officials to be on the "highest alert to 'black swan' incidents and take steps to prevent 'gray rhino'" events. He has emphasised the importance to fight well with preemptive warfare so as to prevent and withstand risks, and at the same time fight well the war of strategic initiatives to convert danger into safety and turn crises into opportunities.

A black swan incident is one that occurs even though it had been thought impossible and which could have extreme consequences. A gray rhino event is a highly probable, high-impact yet neglected threat. The president wanted to "prevent and defuse major risks" in order to maintain the country's economic health and social stability.

Xi's perceptive early warning about black swans became a reality when the novel coronavirus epidemic broke out in December.

Since the Lunar New Year fell on Jan 23, State media asked all Chinese families to cancel gatherings and the government imposed strict quarantine measures on Wuhan. On Jan 30, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a public emergency of international concern.

While there is still much to learn about the novel coronavirus, compared with the 2002-03 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, which was transmitted from civet cats to humans, its transmission rate is much faster. But while the mortality rate for SARS was about 10 percent, preliminary estimates for the novel coronavirus, based on Chinese data, appear to be 1 to 2 percent.

This means the novel coronavirus's mortality rate is higher than seasonal influenza but much lower than SARS, because by the time the SARS outbreak was officially declared to be over, in 2004, there were 8,098 reported cases of infection and 774 deaths.

Thanks to valuable lessons it learned from handling the SARS epidemic, China informed the WHO of the novel coronavirus on Dec 31, a few weeks after it was first detected. By contrast, China informed the WHO about SARS four months after it was first detected.

In fact, China shared with the WHO the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus soon after the start of the outbreak, which facilitated global efforts to understand and contain the virus. This, in turn, will accelerate the development of a vaccine.

There is another important difference between the SARS epidemic and the current one which most analysts seem to have missed. China was a very different country during the SARS epidemic in 2002. Its per capita GDP then was only $1,148, whereas in 2019, it was $10,263.Medical facilities, scientific knowledge, research and development capabilities, and the quality of medical care in China have improved significantly since 2002.China is significantly better prepared to contain the epidemic now than it was in 2002-03 to tackle SARS.

The unprecedented quarantine measures, suspension of public transport in many places, closure of entertainment venues and banning of public gatherings appear to have limited the spread of the virus.

Now, China is gradually easing restrictions in lower-risk areas, and many factories are reopening.

The policies China has used have several advantages. It has built new hospitals in an incredibly short time, increased the number of beds in existing hospitals and greatly improved medical facilities. It has also trained a large number of healthcare workers to treat those infected with the novel coronavirus, and developed commercial test kits for the virus, and distributed them in the most vulnerable areas. And it has made people aware of the hygiene requirements to protect themselves against the novel coronavirus.

China's strict measures to contain the epidemic has given the world more time to make necessary preparations for dealing with novel coronavirus cases. Actually, China's measures to contain the spread of the virus have been quite effective. For instance, they have helped Japan handle passengers and crew on the cruise ship Diamond Princess.

Based on SARS and current experiences, some aspects of China's policies needed improvement. And the Chinese authorities have already taken a big step in that direction by banning the illegal trade and consumption of wildlife.

Live animal markets can be found in most Chinese cities. After the SARS outbreak, these shops were closed. This time, the Chinese authorities have banned the consumption of animals under the Wild Animals Protection Law and other laws and all terrestrial wildlife, including those artificially bred and farmed, across the country.

More important, Xi said on Feb 3 that "it is necessary to strengthen market supervision, resolutely ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade, and control major public health risks" at source. Which means the Chinese government believes in the old Chinese proverb, fáng hùan yú wèi rán (prevention is better than cure).

Asit K. Biswas is a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Glasgow and chairman, Water Management International Pte Ltd., Singapore. And Cecilia Tortajada is a senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

 

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 999jjj在线播放 | 丝袜美腿精品一区二区三 | 男人j进女人j啪啪无遮挡动态 | 免费网站看v片在线a | 亚洲欧美在线视频免费 | 免费播放特黄特色毛片 | 免费午夜视频在线观看 | 婷婷国产| 日韩小视频 | 久久精品成人免费国产片桃视频 | 站长推荐国产午夜免费视频 | 免费激情网站 | 青青草一区 | 国产毛片av| 日韩操操操 | av在线等 | 丁香亚洲| 就去色成人网 | 午夜影视在线观看免费完整高清大全 | 91在线视频观看 | 国产精品人妻无码久久久郑州 | 国产欧美日韩一区二区三区四区 | 久久国产精品久久 | 午夜草逼| 毛片a级| 色噜噜狠狠狠狠色综合久 | 良妾很能生| 男女啪啪片 | 国产日韩欧美三级 | av毛片免费看 | 午夜寂寞在线观看 | 国产成人av一区二区三区 | 久久久精 | 免费日韩视频 | 伊人精品国产 | 亚洲日韩中文字幕一区 | 欧美一区二区三区四区视频 | 国产中文字幕在线播放 | 日日摸狠狠的摸夜夜摸 | 欧美一区二区三区不卡免费 | 美美女高清毛片视频免费观看 |