As of midnight, February 17th, Guangdong had reported 6 new cases, pushing the total number of infected patients to 1328. Zero cases were reported in Guangzhou on February 17th.

The 24th press conference on Guangdong's fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) was held in Guangzhou today.

At the press conference, Wang Ruijun, Director General of Guangdong Science and Technology Department, revealed the research process behind three different types of coronavirus vaccine. The mRNA vaccine has entered an animal testing phase while the adenovirus vector-based vaccine is slated to begin animal testing before February 28th.

[PhotoNian Qing]

Wang added that the provincial government along with several municipal governments has invested more than 145 million yuan in research projects related to epidemic control and prevention.

The two major difficulties of epidemic control lie in increasing the recovery rate of severe cases and avoiding cross infection within the hospital, according to Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

“Although not many critically ill patients have been discharged yet, 85 percent of these patients see an obvious improvement with clinical treatment and adequate nutrients,” he added.

Zhong also expressed his gratitude to support from local enterprises like Evergrande and Tencent. He revealed that Evergrande linked his research team with Harvard University. Subsequently the team is set to hold the second meeting with Harvard on the unsolved problems of the epidemic control.

As most people start to return to work this week, the conference also released an instruction on people who came back to Guangdong from other province:

If you return from the epidemic areas and your body temperature is under 37.3℃, you should contact the community management team and still pursue a 14-day quarantine program following their guidance.

Even if you return from other provinces and your body temperature is over 37.3℃, you should go to a fever clinic for further examination. If your body temperature is under 37.3℃, excluding work, you should minimise activities outside of the home.

Author: Jasmine, Zoey, Zero
Editor: Olivia, Simon