China expert warns of more outbreaks
BEIJING: China on Sunday reported 25 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the previous 24 hours, even as an expert warned that outbreaks similar to the one in Beijing could occur in other cities as well.
China recorded 22 new cases in Beijing and three in neighbouring Hebei province on Saturday. Since June 11, when the outbreak began, Beijing had reported 227 confirmed domestically transmitted cases, the Beijing municipal health commission said in a daily report on Sunday.
Officials have said around 2.3 million people have been tested in an effort to contain the outbreak in the capital that was linked to its biggest wholesale food market, Xinfadi, in the southwest district of Fengtai.
Beijing health authorities are still investigating the source of the infection. Emergence of Beijing’s Covid-19 cases are not considered a second wave, but a sudden outbreak within a small area, which is currently controllable, Chinese infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong has said.
A second wave, he explained, would have an obvious peak, then descend after spreading for a while. “We hope that the domestic epidemic situation can (pursue) a strategy of close to zero cases, rather than absolute zero cases,” Zhang told state media.
Zhang said he believes that the situation of “true zero cases” would be difficult to achieve in the current global epidemic situation. In Zhang’s view, there may be similar situations in other cities in China in the future, and unexpected outbreaks or smallscale outbreaks may occur.
CHINA VACCINE IN 2ND PHASE OF TRIALS
Chinese researchers have started a phase 2 human trial of a possible coronavirus vaccine, the Institute of Medical Biology at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMBCAMS) said on Sunday.
About a dozen vaccines are in different stages of human tests globally. However, none of the vaccine trials have passed largescale, late-stage phase 3 clinical trials, a necessary step before getting regulatory approval for sale.
IMBCAMS began on Saturday a phase 2 human test for its experimental shot, which is among six possible vaccines Chinese scientists are testing in humans, following an ongoing phase-1 study that has recruited about 200 participants since May, the institute said on Sunday in its social media channel. The phase 2 trial will determine the shot’s dose and continue to evaluate whether the potential vaccine can safely trigger immune responses in healthy people.