There is some encouraging news as the number of new Covid-19 cases in China outside Hubei province has been dropping for 15 consecutive days. In Hubei province the situation remains serious. The authorities have launched a three-day campaign to check on the health status of every inhabitant of the city of Wuhan to ensure that people showing symptoms of Covid-19 are tested and treated.

Worldwide, the number of cases has climbed to 75,751, 74,578 of them in mainland China. There are 2,130 deaths worldwide, 2,120 in mainland China, two each in Hong Kong, Iran and on the Diamond Princess, and one each in Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and France. The number of cases on the cruise ship Diamond Princess has skyrocketed to 621 cases. On February 13 the number of cases suddenly jumped in Hubei province as authorities changed their counting method by including more than 13,000 clinically diagnosed patients. The term “clinically diagnosed case” refers to cases with clinical symptoms as shown on a CT-scan but not yet confirmed by a nucleic acid test in the lab.

As migrant workers return from holiday to the big cities to resume work, Beijing municipality has imposed stringent quarantine measures. Travelers arriving in Beijing from abroad – including foreigners – will be put in quarantine – at home, at a hotel or in a designated quarantine center – “for a duration as called for”, according to a notice of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government. People arriving from other areas in China will face a mandatory quarantine of 14 days. About 120 million workers will return to the cities were they work between now and the end of February, with another 100 million expected to return next month.

The annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which were scheduled to start in the first week of March and last for about 10 days, will be postponed. The two meetings are the highlight of China’s political agenda every year and their postponement is unprecedented.

In Beijing, residential compounds and villages in the outskirts are strictly monitoring the movement of people. To enter a compound residents have been issued a special pass and visitors are not allowed to enter. Tencent Holdings has introduced an electronic exit and entry system for residential compounds by using Tencent Haina. The service allows property management teams to keep precise track of people entering and leaving the neighborhood, including time, frequency and their health condition. In addition, residents can obtain an electronic permit that can be scanned by guards each time they leave and enter the area. Around 2,000 communities are so far using the system, involving up to 4 million users. A similar software was unveiled by Alipay.

In Hubei province, people must stay at home until further notice and are only allowed to leave their homes to buy foodstuffs and daily necessities. Only police vans, ambulances and other specially licensed vehicles are allowed on roads in Hubei. The province of 58 million accounts for over 80% of the confirmed cases and 96% of deaths in China. Hubei also suffered political repercussions. On February 13, the Communist Party Secretaries of Hubei province and Wuhan city were sacked. Former Mayor of Shanghai Ying Yong becomes Party Secretary of Hubei, and Wang Zhonglin, Party Secretary of Jinan, capital city of Shandong province, is taking up the same function in Wuhan. Previously, President Xi Jinping dispatched Chen Yixin to take charge of the fight against the epidemic in Wuhan and Hubei province. Chen had been Party Secretary of Wuhan and Deputy Party Secretary of Hubei province before being called to Beijing to become Secretary General of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party. He ordered local officials “to check and quarantine every suspected case, to send officials to the front line and to maintain stability”. National Health Commission Deputy Director Wang Hesheng has also been sent to Wuhan, joining the provincial Party Standing Committee, and taking over the responsibilities of Hubei Health Commission Party Secretary Zhang Jin and Director Liu Yingzi, who were sacked for dereliction of duty.

More information about Covid-19 is becoming available. “More than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover, 14% have severe disease including pneumonia and shortness of breath, 5% have critical disease including respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure, and 2% of cases are fatal. The risk of death increases the older you are”, according to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus.

Three existing drugs that showed promise in inhibiting the novel coronavirus in vitro have entered human trials in China, and early results show noticeable improvement in some patients, Zhang Xinmin, head of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development said. The three drugs are anti-malaria drug chloroquine, anti-flu drug favipiravir, and remdesivir. Hisun Pharmaceutical in Zhejiang’s Taizhou has begun manufacturing faviparivir, which is no longer covered by a patent. Remdesivir is an experimental drug created by U.S. biotech company Gilead Sciences to combat Ebola. It is being tested in over 10 medical institutions in Wuhan. China is also testing several vaccines. A recombinant protein vaccine has entered animal trials. Chinese scientists have created a new diagnostic method using blood serum that can produce accurate results in 15 minutes and greatly reduce the exposure of medical workers to ill patients. The new test kit is called novel coronavirus IgM antibody.

This summary is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times, South China Morning Post and The Guardian.