Ho Ching: A ray of hope in China’s battle against Covid-19

Singapore – China’s battle against the Covid-19 outbreak could be taking a turn for the better, according to Madam Ho Ching, who is the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the CEO of Temasek Holdings.

On Friday (Feb 21), Madam Ho shared some graphs online indicating the trends of confirmed Covid-19 cases and how there appeared to be a downward slope in the recent days.

“The Chinese appear to be confident they are starting to turn the corner,” she noted. “Having roped in all pneumonia cases to be treated as Covid-19 patients, they have now gone back to the earlier definitions.”

The New York Times reported on Tuesday (Feb 18) that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in China has been slowing down since Feb 12. The number of new cases was less than 2,000 for two consecutive days at 1,886 on Feb 18 and 1,749 on Feb 19. This is a first since Jan 30, noted Gizmodo. 

The increasingly strict measures being imposed in China to curb the spread of the virus could be taking effect, according to NYT.

Madam Ho mentioned that people are going back to work after the extended Chinese New Year holidays while some cities have restarted their factories. “Surgical mask factories in Suzhou have started up, while factories in Wuhan are restarting,” she said.

“Shenzhen and Shanghai are seeing single digits or even zero new case days,” she said, referring to the statistics. “Workers and managers are sounding cheerful and chirpy as they talk with friends or counterparts outside China – while there are still a few hundred new cases in Wuhan, down from a few thousand at its peak, there is now a ray of hope.” 

Madam Ho explained that victory over an infectious epidemic is declared if there are no new cases over two incubation cycles, which is equivalent to two fortnights or a month. 

If some new cases do appear, “we should calmly and methodically do the required mopping up operations”. 

She shared how trends are essential in anticipating what may come in the near future to better prepare for different outcomes. The recent trends, both in numbers and the people’s moods, are “encouraging signs that China is getting its act together”. 

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For more information on Covid-19 numbers and statistics, access the worldometer here.

/TISG