Washington - According to study, the curfew in the Chinese city of Wuhan may have prevented 700,000 infections and significantly delayed the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The drastic measures in Wuhan, which is considered the epicenter of the pandemic, within The first 50 days would have given other cities in the country valuable time to prepare their own restrictions, write researchers from China, the USA and Great Britain in an article published yesterday in the journal Science (2020;).
By February 19, the 50th day after the outbreak, according to the authors, there were 30,000 confirmed cases of corona infection in China.
"Our analysis suggests that without the Wuhan travel ban and the national emergency response, there would have been more than 700,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases outside of Wuhan by then," said Christopher Dye, researcher at the university from Oxford. "China's control measures appear to have worked by successfully breaking the chain of transmission."
The researchers used case reports, information from health authorities and cell phone data to investigate the spread of the virus. The location of cell phones has provided “fascinating” new data set, said another author of the article, biologist Ottar Bjornstad from Penn State University.
"The analysis showed an extraordinary decrease in movements following the January 23, 2020 travel ban." Based on these data, the scientists were able to estimate the likely decrease in Wuhan-related cases in other cities in China.
When Beijing cordoned off the metropolis of Wuhan more than 2 months ago, the decision was seen as drastic step in the fight against the virus. Exit restrictions now apply to almost half of the world's population.
According to the Johns Hopkins University, more than 850,000 people have been infected with the novel corona virus so far. Over 40,000 people died from the lung disease COVID-19.
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