Speedy response contributes to China's sucessful control of COVID-19: The Lancet

LONDON - China has managed to wrest control of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was attributed to speedy response and its culture among others, medical journal The Lancet has reported.

Comparing the pandemic developments in China and some Western countries, an article published in the journal on Thursday said that "a centralised epidemic response system" has primarily well-placed China to tackle the disease.

"The speed of China's response was the crucial factor," said Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, the US state of Minnesota.

"They moved very quickly to stop transmission. Other countries, even though they had much longer to prepare for the arrival of the virus, delayed their response and that meant they lost control," Poland explained.

From strict lockdowns and outdoor restrictions to massive tests in metropolises across the country, the article analyzed China's measures to fight the virus.

"China had managed to test 9 million people for SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan" within weeks, it noted, adding "It set up an effective national system of contact tracing."

The article outlined the factors promoting the effectiveness of China's response, including the manufacturing capability of personal protective equipment, effective building of Fangcang hospitals network, public health actions, notably wearing masks, coordination between government sectors and civil compliance with regulations.

"Commitment to the greater good is engrained in the culture," Poland said, adding that Chinese accept the notion that disease control is a matter of science.

China's response to the pandemic is generalizable, the article said.

So far, the global COVID-19 caseload has surpassed 37 million with over 1 million deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Friday, 85,536 COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland, China's National Health Commission said in its daily briefing on Saturday.