There's little chance of the novel coronavirus, that has caused the COVID-19 pandemic, dying out over the summer, and it's possible that it will become a common virus before a cure is found, said top Chinese microbiology and virology scientists at a press briefing on Monday.

Wang Guiqiang, director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Peking University First Hospital, said ,although the virus can be killed when the temperature reaches 56 degrees Celsius for longer than 30 minutes, the temperature in summer is not high enough to kill it.

He also warned the pandemic could become a seasonal disease. He said the family of seasonal flu viruses already contains coronaviruses, just other subtypes besides SARS-Cov-2. So it's possible that COVID-19 will break out again, like other coronaviruses, in autumn and winter. 

Doctor Jin Qi from the Institute of Medical Biology at China Academy of Medical Sciences agreed, saying the colonization possibility of COVID-19 in human society is high.

Three COVID-19 vaccines under clinical trial in China

The scientists confirmed that five experimental COVID-19 vaccines are being developed in China, among which three have entered stage-two clinical trials with approval.

Medical institutes and pharmaceutical companies in China, Germany, the U.S. and the UK are cooperating on the development of the vaccines, Wang Guiqiang, director of Infectious Diseases Department at Peking University First Hospital, said at a press briefing focusing on the latest COVID-19 scientific research.

Possible treatment

Professor Yan Jinghua from the Institute of Microbiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said before any vaccines are available, plasma and stem cell treatments have proven effective in China.

She also said that monoclonal antibodies, which are immune-cell drugs often used in cancer treatment, may also be a temporary solution. They are more suitable for large-scale production than plasma, and are also more accurately targeted at COVID-19.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has found non-human mammal trials and toxicology test results of monoclonal antibodies ideal, she added. 

Monday's seminar also discussed the possible origins of COVID-19.  

Doctor Liu Peipei, deputy director of BSL-3 laboratory at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), said studies posted on The Lancet and Nature journals have clearly shown that the virus was very unlikely made in a lab.

Doctor Liu said current studies are focused on finding the intermediate host that could have transferred the virus from animals to humans.

（CGTN's Cao Qingqing also contributed to the report.）