Q&A: Top health expert on latest virus developments
Renowned(1) Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan shares his views on the latest developments in the novel(2) coronavirus(3) outbreak in an interview with Beijing Television on January 31st.
Q: Should people get tested for the coronavirus infection if they have symptoms of a cold or fever?
A: If they have a fever, they should go to get tested for the virus, because the most common symptom for the novel coronavirus is fever. Other symptoms include fatigue and coughing. If they have such symptoms, they should go to the fever clinics to get tested.
If they have had contact with people from Wuhan, they should get tested even if they do not have such symptoms, since some people do not show any symptoms at the early stage.
Q: Some patients have been discharged from the hospital. Will they have any side effects?
A: I have not noticed any obvious side effects. The disease now has a mortality(4) rate of about 2.5 percent. We are trying everything to save patients, especially those in critical condition, by giving them medical and life support.
Q: How does the virus compare with SARS? Which one is more dangerous?
A: The new coronavirus is less dangerous.
Q: Many elderly people have chronic(5) diseases and need to go to the hospital regularly to get medicine. If they run out of medicine, should they go to the hospital?
A: We found that elderly people with chronic disease have higher chances to get infected. It's better for them to ask their children to go to the hospital to get medicine.
Q: Are there any new treatment methods you want to share with us?
A: The two main treatment methods are still early detection and early isolation. They are the most primitive(6) and effective ways.
Q: Your eyes were filled with tears during an early interview with Xinhua News Agency. Could you tell us what happened?
A: Medical workers in Wuhan have worked very hard and patients are also very depressed. I talked to many of my students who are medical staff in Wuhan and they are not in a good mood.
One of my students told me that people were singing the national anthem(7) on the street, "The Chinese nation has entered a critical stage." It shows that people have high morale(8). I was deeply touched. When dealing with infectious patients in critical situation, morale, solidarity(9) and cooperation are very important.
Q: When will the epidemic(10) end?
A: The country has taken strong epidemic prevention and containment measures. Other than Wuhan, we have not seen large-scale(11) infections in other places. I think it will not last as long as the SARS epidemic in 2003.
文章来源：
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/01/WS5e351ae8a310128217274041.html
Notes：
(1) renowned：著名的，有声望的
(2) novel：新奇的，异常的
(3) coronavirus：冠状病毒
(4) mortality：死亡数，死亡率
(5) chronic：慢性的，长期的
(6) primitive：原始的，简单的
(7) anthem：赞美诗，圣歌
(8) morale：士气，斗志
(9) solidarity：团结，团结一致
(10) epidemic：传染病，流行病
(11) large-scale：大规模的，大范围的