Zhong Nanshan, China's leading medical expert, predicts that the Wuhan pneumonia will not last as long as the SARS pandemic in 2002-2003.

"That year, the SARS epidemic lasted for 5-6 months, but I do not think the outbreak due to the new strain of corona virus (nCoV) can take so long," said Zhong, a leading medical expert on Respiratory Syndrome. Severe Acute (SARS) and Chinese government health adviser, said in an interview with Xinhua news agency on January 28.

The expert predicts that the pneumonia caused by the nCoV virus will peak in about 7-10 days and not as long as the SARS pandemic. "That's because after the third outbreak broke out, the government took timely preventive measures, especially early detection and quarantine. After doing the above two things, we are confident enough to prevent them." blocking a new outbreak, "Zhong said.

Zhong, director of the National Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases (SKLRD), added that after that there would be "no further outbreaks".

Zhong was a key player in China's 2002 SAR3 pandemic response group and is now the head of a government expert group working on the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic.

An outbreak of pneumonia caused by nCoV virus appeared in Wuhan in late December and quickly spread to more than 15 countries and territories. The number of cases of pneumonia in China today has reached 5,974, exceeding 5,327 cases of SARS in 2002-2003. The SARS pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 600 people worldwide. The number of deaths associated with Wuhan pneumonia has increased to 132 people, all in China.

Previously, Gao Fu, director of the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was optimistic that the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic could be contained on Feb. 8 if current preventive measures for the epidemic were maintained. . Gao added that he believes the current measure is effective when the number of suspected cases is decreasing.

However, Hong Kong medical expert Gabriel Leung is not so optimistic when he predicts that the Wuhan pneumonia could last longer and peak this summer. Leung said on January 27 that the peak of the outbreak will be in April or May and break out in five major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, before the number of cases decreases in June or July.

Leung and his research team at the University of Hong Kong estimate there are 44,000 cases of infection in Wuhan, but only about 25,000 develop symptoms at this time. He called on the Hong Kong government to take more stringent measures to control the epidemic and restrict people from traveling to spread the virus.

Some countries and territories have denied tourists from Hubei province entry. Hong Kong on January 28 announced the suspension of new visas for tourists from China on January 30.