[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] As the number of patients infected with the novel coronavirus, the cause of 'Wuhan pneumonia,' increases across China, Chinese state media urged the public to trust the government's virus control capabilities and respond calmly.
On the 21st, China’s Global Times editorial stated, "The social atmosphere in China surrounding Wuhan pneumonia has become noticeably tense," adding, "It is necessary for the public to remain calm and fully understand the virus outbreak situation. It is important to objectively understand the virus infection status."
The newspaper said, "There are suspicions that China is not disclosing all virus-related information in a timely manner, as was the case during the 2013 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak and spread," but emphasized, "China avoids speculative announcements that could cause social panic and pursues stable and accurate information delivery. This situation is different from the early days of the SARS outbreak."
The paper noted, "From the current situation, Wuhan pneumonia has involved human-to-human transmission, but the transmission and mortality rates are not as high as during SARS," and urged, "China has already accumulated much experience in preventing and controlling infectious diseases. While people may be concerned, there is no need for the entire Chinese society to fall into panic."
It added, "Many experts hold the view that, as was the case during SARS, it is not desirable for the entire society to be mobilized for infection prevention and control," and "Prevention and control should be carried out mainly by key medical institutions and at the public health level."
With the Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year) approaching, individuals should remain vigilant but also strengthen their trust in the government and medical institutions, emphasizing that "it is important to respond calmly when an epidemic situation occurs."
The state-run Global Times also focuses on reporting that the current 'Wuhan pneumonia' outbreak differs in nature from the past SARS outbreak. Through an interview with Wang Yuedan, a professor of immunology at Peking University, it was conveyed that "while the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases is very likely to increase, the risk of a SARS-like outbreak is very low."
Zheng Guang, former chief infectious disease expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated, "The mortality rate of infected patients with Wuhan pneumonia is not as high as during SARS, and there is no phenomenon of infecting many people," adding, "During SARS, it took three months with the help of foreign experts to identify the virus, but this time we discovered the novel coronavirus within 10 days by our own efforts. This is an example showing the overall improvement of China’s infectious disease response capabilities."
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