Is 2nd wave of COVID-19 looming?
While clustered infections of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 have re-emerged in two provinces, Chinese experts are reassuring the public over concerns regarding a potential second wave of the epidemic, calling such cases sporadic and normal for major infectious diseases.
China reported over 20 new infection cases in the past two days, raising fears that a second wave of the deadly coronavirus might appear in the Chinese mainland, which has successfully brought the epidemic under control through three months of hard work and is gradually resuming production nationwide.
Despite the rising number of new infection cases, Chinese medical experts said that clustered infections in Wuhan, Hubei Province and Shulan, northeast China’s Jilin Province, are sporadic and don’t
imply a second wave is looming.
After clustered infections emerged, officials from both Jilin and Hubei provinces are ramping up efforts to trace close contacts while adopting lockdown measures to contain the infection from spreading to wider regions. Since Sunday, Wuhan reported a total of six new cases of COVID-19, all of which are from the same local community.
“These cases certainly do not mean a second wave of epidemic in China. Considering the complexity of COVID-19 which has an unclear incubation period and sometimes asymptomatic, such kinds of sporadic cases are quite normal,” Wang Peiyu, deputy head of Peking University’s School of Public Health, told the Global Times.
He said that major infectious diseases gradually go through a process of disappearing.
Jin Dongyan, a professor with the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, believes that China may see sporadic cases of COVID-19 like what happened in Shulan for as long as several years into future, and this will become a new normal after the major outbreak.
Sporadic cases for years
Experts and epidemiological specialists from the National Health Commission and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention had arrived in Shulan on Sunday. All new confirmed cases were reportedly related to an infected laundrywoman who works in a local public security bureau but the source of her infection still remains unknown.
Yang Zhanqiu, a deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times that a few scattered new cases are normal after new infection cases in Wuhan dropped to zero.
The newly emerged cases have touched the nerve of local people.
Many locals in Shulan reached by the Global Times said they are prepared to fight a protracted battle against the virus.
Jin said that it’s unclear how long COVID-19 will continue to exist globally. Some experts predict it will ebb next year, and some hold it will last for several years until effective vaccines are available. There are possibilities that even if a vaccine is developed next year, it may only work in preventing severe cases, instead of preventing infections among the people. He said, thus it’s likely that global infections will continue for years, and so will sporadic cases in China.
Chinese netizens hailed the timely measures the Shulan and Wuhan governments had adopted and called on local residents to keep their vigilance and continue to follow precautions.
Zhang Yuxin, head of the Dongxihu district of Wuhan was removed from his post on Monday for failing to fulfill duties in regard to COVID-19 control in the residential community under his supervision.
Wang Hongwei, a professor at Renmin University of China’s School of Public Administration and Policy, said that we need to find a balance between COVID-19 prevention, control and restoring normal activities.
The punishment against the Wuhan official will also undoubtedly bring pressure to local officials across the nation, as preventing a resurgence of COVID-19 is a national task, experts said.
But they stressed that rigid and unscientific prevention and control measures may harm the resumption of production, and officials who fail to actively help companies resolve difficulties, provide the public a safe consumption environment and neglect their duties will be warned and punished.