Top China expert warns of potential second coronavirus wave

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BEIJING, May 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – China faces a potential second wave of
coronavirus infections due to a lack of immunity among its population, its
government’s senior medical advisor has warned.

After months of lockdowns and curbs on travel China has largely brought the
virus under control, but fears of a second wave have risen as clusters have
emerged in northeast provinces and in the central city of Wuhan.

“The majority of… Chinese at the moment are still susceptible of the
Covid-19 infection, because (of) a lack of immunity,” Zhong Nanshan, the
public face of government’s response to the pandemic, told CNN.

“We are facing (a) big challenge,” Zhong added. “It’s not better than the
foreign countries I think at the moment.”

Zhong, who helped expose the scale of the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), also said authorities in ground-zero Wuhan had
under-reported cases during the early days of the pandemic.

“The local authorities, they didn’t like to tell the truth at that time,”
said Zhong, who was part of a team of experts sent to Wuhan to investigate the
outbreak.

“I didn’t believe that result (the number of cases reported) so I (kept)
asking and then, you have to give me the real number,” he said.

But he added he believed data published after Wuhan was locked down in late
January, and when the central government took control of the response, “will
be correct”.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 309,296 people, according to a
tally from official sources compiled by AFP, with scientists around the world
racing to find a vaccine.

Zhong cautioned that a “perfect” vaccine for a disease that the World Health
Organization (WHO) says may never disappear could take “years”.