China reports no domestic Covid-19 cases for more than 14 days
September 1, 2020 Category Health, Weekly
China has reported no new Covid-19 cases for more than 14 days, but there are still a dozen or so cases a day of arriving passengers, detected carrying the virus during their 14-day quarantine period. Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases in Belgium has surpassed the number in China, while there are twice as many deaths in Belgium.
Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang, lifted the lockdown after 37 days to allow residents of some local communities where there have been no Covid-19 patients to engage in outdoor activities within the community as infections have gradually subsided. In response to difficulties that locals had during the long lockdown, major officials in Urumqi released their phone numbers, allowing them to hear residents’ anxiety and help solve their problems. The easing is a sign that the Covid-19 resurgence is gradually subsiding and Urumqi is expected to return to normality soon after the city locked all communities and required residents to stay indoors from July 17. As another easing sign, some domestic airlines serving Xinjiang started to resume operations, including some flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. Travelers need a green health QR code and negative nucleic acid test to board the flights, the Global Times reports.
Hong Kong plans to start mass testing on September 1. The number of daily cases has been dropping in the past week, from a peak of 149 in late July to around 10 to 20 in recent days. But restrictions and social distancing measures still have a serious impact on the economy of Hong Kong. A total of 141 sites across 18 districts have been prepared as makeshift testing facilities. “For yourself, your loved ones, our hardworking medical staff and the wider community, you should join the testing,” Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip said. Those who test negative for Covid-19 would receive their results via text message within three days of screening, while those testing positive would get a call from the Department of Health. The Hong Kong government had conducted 950,000 tests since January, and had recently performed 420,000 tests on high-risk groups – such as taxi drivers and care home staff. The mass testing scheme is aimed at detecting the remaining silent carriers of the virus. About 600 staff from the mainland will assist in testing. But Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, who advises the government on the pandemic, says infections could spike again as temperatures fall. He called for ‘watertight’ border controls, and for people to record their own movements to facilitate contact tracing in the event of infection. Hong Kong could face a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections in the autumn and winter season, and disruptions to normal life could persist for another six months to a year, he added.
Shanghai’s Fosun Pharma is on track to bring German partner BioNTech’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine to China by the end of the year. Fosun has injected 72 volunteers with BioNTech’s vaccine in a phase-one trial in Jiangsu province, and the preliminary safety data are ‘good’, said CEO Wu Yifang. “We hope to be able to commercialize it by year end, but there are plenty of uncertainties with clinical trials as well as the regulatory approval processes,” Wu added. Fosun Pharma, part of the Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun International, in March obtained a license from Mainz-based BioNTech to exclusively develop and commercialize its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. U.S.-based Pfizer is working with BioNTech to commercialize it outside China, and is conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in the U.S. where it has won “fast track” designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They plan to supply up to 100 million doses worldwide by the end of this year and 1.3 billion by the end of 2021. RNA vaccines are faster and cheaper to produce than traditional vaccines, and an RNA-based vaccine is also safer for the patient as they are not produced using infectious elements.
Meanwhile, the Canadian National Research Council (NRC) confirmed a planned clinical trial of the Ad5-nCov vaccine developed by CanSino had been scrapped due to delays in shipping the vaccine. The NRC said it was now working with Massachusetts-based VBI Vaccines and the University of Saskatchewan’s International Vaccine Center. Phase three trials of Ad5-nCoV are now under way in Saudi Arabia and Russia. The Chinese military has already approved the use of the vaccine candidate on armed forces personnel.
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