Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an exclusive interview CCTV on Thursday that a few more days of data on the trend of confirmed coronavirus cases are needed to make the judgment on whether a turning point has been reached.

"The measures we are taking against the new coronavirus infection are the most powerful control measures," he said. "We are collecting and analyzing the data everyday… We should have a more confident assessment of the trend in the next few days."

'WHO speak highly of China's prevention measures'

The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that China deserves the international community's gratitude and respect for having taken very serious measures to contain the outbreak and prevent the exporting of cases.

"WHO officials have been communicating with China on how to strengthen international cooperation on fighting the novel coronavirus," Wu told CCTV, adding that China is also reaching out to its neighbors with the aim of reducing infection in other countries through cooperation.

Extension of holidays is effective

There has been a three-day extension on the Spring Festival holiday in order to prevent the spread of the virus. The expert said that this measure is effective in terms of outbreak control.

"The three-day extension helps to reduce interpersonal communication… No other country has taken such drastic action against respiratory infections; this should be the most effective measure to control respiratory infections at present," Wu told CCTV.

Suggestions on prevention measures

As the Spring Festival holiday comes to an end, the number of travelers will increase across the country.

The expert suggests travelers wear masks in confined vehicles including planes, trains and long-distance buses. Frequent handwashing and ventilation at home are also of importance in virus prevention.

Wearing a mask is a kind of physical isolation. Wu said that healthy people could get infected by pathogenic microorganisms coughed up by infected patients.

"The air we breathe in can be filtered if the mask covers our nose and mouth properly," he said, adding that family members don't need to wear masks when they are together at home if they have no history of being in epidemic areas or contact with infected patients.

"If there is no patient of the new virus at home, frequent disinfection is unnecessary," Wu said, adding that using medicinal alcohol and gel sanitizer are also good ways of disinfection.

'Harder than fighting SARS'

The expert claimed that the prevention of the new coronavirus is harder than SARS.

"The main difficulty is that some patients don't show symptoms as obvious and serious as SARS," Wu said, adding that mild patients are also infectious, which lowers the awareness of healthy people when in contact with them.

"So far there is no evidence to prove whether an infected person with no symptoms can be infectious," he said. "We are conducting relative research and hope to get the answer soon."

Respiratory infections tend to peak in winter and spring. With the strong measures that have been taken, Wu said that he is confident that there is hope of getting the outbreak under control before the spring.

(Top image: Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks with CCTV. /CCTV Photo)