Joint expert mission reports findings to health minister

A joint mission comprising experts from China and the World Health Organization traveled to Hubei province, center of the novel coronavirus outbreak, over the weekend and shared their major findings and suggestions with China's minister of health Ma Xiaowei, the National Health Commission said on Monday.

The joint team visited Tongji Hospital's Guanggu branch in Wuhan, the makeshift hospital converted from the city's sports center, and the provincial disease control and prevention center during the trip, the commission said.

Experts from the team also communicated with Hubei's epidemic control authority and passed on information about the team's activities, sharing what they found on Sunday with minister of heath Ma Xiaowei, who was in Wuhan.

Ma thanked the joint team for launching their work in China during a critical stage of battling the epidemic, and for their suggestions on better handling the outbreak.

Ma reiterated that forceful measures taken by China to curb the disease's spread had not only protected the health of the Chinese people, but also contributed to safeguarding global public health.

China is confident in its capabilities and is determined to win the battle, and will continue to improve disease control measures while achieving economic and social development, Ma said.

China will also improve its disease prevention and control mechanism and its health emergency response system while strengthening cooperation with the WHO, he added.

The team touched down in China about a week ago, and visited Beijing, Guangdong and Sichuan provinces before heading to Hubei.