We have to respect the coronavirus – and learn as the disease evolves

Health

We have to respect the coronavirus – and learn as the disease evolves

At the end of February, the WHO's assistant director general Bruce Aylward set out to learn more about China's response to the covid-19 outbreak. He tells �鶹��ý what he thinks the rest of the world can learn from China's approach

By Jessica Hamzelou

16 March 2020

Bruce Aylward, assistant director general of the World Health Organization — Bruce Aylward led the WHO’s mission to China in February
Xing Guangli/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

Epidemiologist Bruce Aylward is assistant director general of the World Health Organization and spoke to �鶹��ý on 13 March. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

�鶹��ý: Cases in China are declining – we are now only seeing a handful of new reported cases every day. Does China have the virus under control?

Bruce Aylward: They have absolutely turned it around. The trends are very real, there’s no question. Governors, mayors and others that I talked to in China would never…

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