Data shared on the coronavirus ‘not enough’

Still not enough known to create an effective vaccine. (File/AFP)

• More than 1,100 people have died from the coronavirus so far
• Expert says China needs to provide more information if a vaccine is to be created

DUBAI: Data provided by Chinese officials on the newly named strain of the coronavirus ‘Covid-19’ is “not nearly enough” to develop a cure or calculate its rate of transmission, a leading public health expert said at the Milken Institute’s 2020 MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking on Wednesday in a session on the ‘Public health response to the coronavirus,’ Professor Christopher Mores of George Washington University School, said while China had done “a decent job” sharing data on the new virus, the information was not sufficient enough to fully understand the virus.

To date, the Covid-19, one of 5 other types of the coronavirus, has claimed the lives of 1,116 people, with 45,204 cases confirmed around the world. So far, 4,985 people who were infected with the virus have recovered.

“We haven’t had a better level of sharing of information and access to the outbreak zone,” said Mores, adding that while China had had a very strenuous response to the virus, “there is a lot of fog in terms of what’s going and what the transmission rates are really like.”

Both the World health Organisation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have not yet been able to access the virus’ site of origin in the city of Wuhan.

Mores discussed potential future scenarios of Covid-19, adding that each situation depends on whether or not the data and “case fatality rate being reported from inside the outbreak zone holds up.”

He noted that the reported cases of death from the virus was approaching 2 percent, adding that if it continued, the Covid-19 outbreak could come close to fatality levels of the 1918 flu strain.

“If the virus gets out and causes a pandemic, that can have a serious impact on a global scale, in terms of loss of life and mortality,” Mores said.

Alternatively, another scenario suggests that following the strong response by China and the international community as well as the travel restrictions in place, the virus’ transmission rates could dampen down, driving it into extinction.

In both cases, Mores confirmed previous suggestions made by health experts, claiming that a vaccine for the new-found virus will not be available before at least one year.

“We have the technology that we can actually achieve that [creating a vaccine]- perhaps in time to really protect the most vulnerable populations,” he said.

Addressing the summit’s audience in Abu Dhabi, he advised them to regularly wash their hands and keep a distance from anyone with symptoms of the flu.

“There is no indication right now that we have ongoing transmission outside of the outbreak zone,” said Mores. While several counties have reported a higher number of cases such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, he told people to “be weary but not overly concerned.”