Head of the WHO expert group visiting China： China’s anti-epidemic approach can be replicated, but it needs speed, capital, imagination and political courage.

　　The picture was taken from The New York Times and the character was Bruce Aylward.

　　On March 4th, local time, The New York Times, USA published an interview with Bruce Aylward, head of the WHO expert group visiting China. Aylward introduced what he learned during his trip to China.

　　When asked whether the number of cases in China is really decreasing, Aylward said frankly, "I know some people doubt it.". He said that everywhere he visited, he said that compared with the peak of the epidemic in China, the situation was very different. Before that, about 46,000 people asked for testing every day, but when he left China, this number dropped to about 13,000 people every day.

　　One of the shelter hospitals in Wuhan, source: China Daily.

　　"I don’t see any signs of manipulating the data." Aylward further responded: "The epidemic has stabilized and the progress is faster than expected."

　　He also said: "China’s strict prevention and control measures have saved hundreds of thousands of Chinese from infection.".

　　Aylward compared the differences between China and the United States in epidemic detection: in hospitals in China, each CT machine performs about 200 scans a day, and each scan takes about 5-10 minutes. In western countries, a hospital scans about 1-2 times per hour.

　　China shortened the time of PCR test to four hours, and not long ago, when completing the same test, the United States still needed to send all samples to the designated location in Atlanta.

　　In view of the problem of treatment cost that the American people are generally concerned about, Aylward also made a comparison: the China administration made it clear that the test is free. After the medical insurance of the diagnosed patient is full, the state will bear all the treatment expenses.

　　In contrast, Aylward believes that the current health care system in the United States "has speed obstacles". The high cost of testing and treatment has caused many people to delay treatment because of hesitation, which is also very unfavorable for preventing and controlling the further spread of the epidemic.

　　In addition, Aylward also mentioned other prevention and control measures in China, such as home isolation, "closing the city" and closing schools.

　　At the end of the interview, a reporter from The New York Times asked: "Isn’t all this impossible in the United States?" "Isn’t China able to do this because it is an authoritarian country?"

　　The picture was taken from The New York Times.

　　Aylward responded to this kind of statement: "(Some Western) journalists will say that people cooperate with prevention and control measures out of fear of the government, and the China government is like a demon that will breathe fire and swallow babies." But I have also talked with many people outside the system — — In hotels, trains, and streets.

　　Aylward said that China’s preparations for the epidemic are nationwide. "People have such a strong belief: ‘ We must help Wuhan ’ , not ‘ Wuhan has brought us to this point ’ . Other provinces sent 40,000 medical workers, many of whom volunteered. "

　　"They are mobilized like a war, and what drives them is the fear of the virus. They believe that they are standing on the front line and believe that their actions are defending other parts of China and the whole world. "