26/04/2020
- City at centre of outbreak finally able to declare itself clear of disease after months in lockdown and thousands of deaths
- Risk of infection remains, however, with some patients testing positive for coronavirus that causes disease without showing symptoms
Ferries and other public transport services resumed in Wuhan last week. Photo: Xinhua
The city of Wuhan, the initial epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, no longer has any Covid-19 patients in hospital after the last 12 were discharged on Sunday.
Their release ended a four-month nightmare for the city, where the disease was first detected in December. The number of patients being treated for Covid-19, the disease caused by a new coronavirus, peaked on February 18 at 38,020 – nearly 10,000 of whom were in severe or critical condition.
“With the joint efforts of Wuhan and the national medical aid given to Hubei province, all cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan were cleared as of April 26,” Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission said on Sunday afternoon.
The announcement came only one day after the city discharged the last patient who had been in a severe condition. That patient also was the last severe case in Hubei province.
The last patient discharged from Wuhan Chest Hospital, a 77-year-old man surnamed Ding, twice tested negative for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and was released at noon on Sunday.
“I missed my family so much!” Ding told Changjing Daily.
Another unidentified patient exclaimed as he left the hospital: “The air outside is so fresh! The weather is so good today!”
Wuhan faced a long journey to bring its patient count down to zero.
The city of 11 million, the capital of Hubei province and a transport hub for central China, was put under a strict lockdown on January 23 that barred anyone from entering or exiting the city without official approval for 76 days until it was officially lifted on April 8.
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Residents were ordered to stay in their apartments as the city stopped public transport and banned private cars from city streets. As the epidemic worsened, more than 42,000 medical staff from across the country were sent to the city and to Hubei province to help ease the burden on the local health care system.
Wuhan was the hardest hit city in China, accounting for 50,333 of the 82,827 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases recorded in China. More than 4,600 died in the country from the disease.
On March 13, the city reported for the first time that there were no new suspected cases of the infection, and five days later there were no confirmed cases.
The number of discharged patients bottomed out at 39.1 per cent at the end of February, gradually climbing to 92.2 per cent by last Thursday.
“Having the patients in the hospital cleared on April 26 marks a major achievement for the city’s Covid-19 treatment,” the Wuhan Health Commission said in a statement.
However, having no severe cases in hospital does not mean all the discharged patients will require no further treatment as they may still need further care.
“Clearing all the severe cases marks a decisive victory for the battle to safeguard Wuhan,” health minister Ma Xiaowei told state broadcaster China Central Television on Saturday.
“Some patients who have other conditions are being treated in specialised hospitals. It has been properly arranged.”
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Ten patients aged between 42 and 85 who have been declared coronavirus-free are still in intensive care at the city’s Tongji Hospital where they are being treated for kidney problems and other complications arising from Covid-19. Some still need ventilators to help them breathe.
These 10 patients are under 24-hour care, with 190 nurses on four-hour rotations. There are other patients in a similar condition in two other hospitals in Wuhan, according to the Hubei Broadcasting and Television Network.
However, the discharge of the last batch of Covid-19 patients does not mean that the risk of infection is gone.
The city reported 20 new cases of people testing positive for Sars-CoV-2, the official name for the coronavirus that causes the disease, but who do not yet show symptoms.
There are 535 such carriers under medical observation. Past data shows some of these asymptomatic carriers will develop symptoms, and so will be counted as Covid-19 patients under China’s diagnosis and treatment plan.
China’s coronavirus infection curve has flattened out with about 694 imported cases of Covid-19 on top of about 800 locally transmitted ones now under treatment.
The national health commission spokesman warned that people still need to be on high alert as the virus is continuing to spread around the globe, with no sign yet of a slowdown.
“[We] must not drop our guard and loosen up. [We] must discover cases in time and deal with them quickly,” Mi said, citing the continued pressure from cases imported by people returning from overseas.
“The next step will be to implement the requirements of the central government and continue to guard against imported cases and a rebound of domestic transmitted cases.”
Source: SCMP
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21/04/2020
BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to poverty alleviation. He has addressed the issue on many occasions. The following are some highlights of his quotes.
— It is an essential requirement of socialism to eradicate poverty, improve people’s living standards and achieve common prosperity among the people.
— No single poor area or individual shall be left behind.
— Genuinely poor people are to genuinely shake off poverty. Poverty must be truly eliminated.
— The measurement for moderate prosperity lies in rural areas.
— Cadres play a key role in helping people shake off poverty.
— Eradicating poverty is a common mission of human beings.
— It will be the first time in the millennia-old history of the Chinese nation that absolute poverty is comprehensively eliminated.
— Being lifted out of poverty is not an end in itself but the starting point of a new life and a new pursuit.
Source: Xinhua
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05/09/2019
- New material is almost identical in structure to human enamel, which does not regenerate itself
- Crystal-like mineral can grow on teeth and last permanently, researchers say
Drops of the liquid solution are applied to a human tooth. Photo: Zhejiang University
Scientists at a Chinese university say they have discovered the world’s first material that can repair damaged tooth enamel once and last for life.
A few drops of the liquid solution can fix all invisible cracks and wear on an ageing molar, according to researchers at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, eastern China, whose work was published on Friday in the journal Science Advances.
The material, calcium phosphate ion clusters, can grow a thin layer of protective shield on teeth, the research showed. The transparent, crystal-like mineral has a structure resembling fish scales and a high mechanical strength – almost identical to the enamel on a human tooth.
Its repair of the tooth “would be permanent”, wrote the researchers, led by Professor Tang Ruikang at the university’s chemistry department.
A tooth’s non-repaired left side (darker) and repaired right side (lighter) are compared using a fluorescent chemical. Photo: Zhejiang University
The technology could be developed as an effective remedy in clinical practice for enamel erosion, the main cause of tooth decay, Tang’s team said. Tooth decay affects almost half of the world’s population, costing dental patients in the United States and European Union a combined US$200 billion annually, according to the World Dental Federation.
Enamel, the outer covering of teeth, is the hardest tissue in the human body, protecting teeth during biting and chewing food.
Unlike other tissues such as muscle, bone and skin, enamel is generated by cells that die immediately after completing their job. The human body cannot produce more of them, so when enamel breaks or chips, it will not regenerate itself.
For decades, researchers around the world have conducted studies to seek a solution, but the artificial materials tested previously could not recreate precisely the fine structure of natural enamel, leaving gaps or holes that could cause it to break off real enamel.
Wouldn’t it be nice if our teeth fixed themselves, just like pandas’ do?
Tang’s team claim their new material can grow seamlessly on human teeth. They mixed two different types of repairing material together to form tiny clusters of mineral particles only 1.5 nanometres in diameter – smaller than a strand of human DNA.
Unlike in previous experiments, these clusters could remain stable for a long time without clumping together, making precise reconstruction of an enamel-like structure possible.
Chen Haifeng, associate professor at Peking University’s biomedical engineering department, said that the research was a positive step but that the new material might need improvements before clinical use.
For instance, the artificial layer requires two days to grow, which could be difficult for dentists to schedule with patients.
Many children use so much toothpaste it’s unhealthy, experts warn
The liquid solution contains triethylamine, a toxic substance with a very strong smell, which may pose a health risk, according to Chen. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t do anything,” he said.
The researchers said the chemical would quickly vaporise and none would be left in the teeth after the protective shield had formed.
Some products preventing enamel erosion and decay, such as toothpaste with enamel-strengthening ingredients, are already available in shops.
“Prevention is the best approach,” Chen said. “We should never wait until the damage is done. Our teeth are a miracle of nature. Artificial replacement will never do the job as well.”
Source: SCMP
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CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 