Tue, Apr 28, 2020 page2

• Virus Outbreak: NTU experts urge action on medication, vaccine

  NEXT STEP: The government should see this as a ‘time of war’ and loosen regulations for experiments and clinical trials, the university’s Chan Chang-chuan said

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
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  Public health experts at National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday urged the government to loosen drug testing regulations and direct more funds to the development of medication and a vaccine for COVID-19.

  As some countries are entering a “post-COVID-19 period,” the development of medication and a vaccine are key to ending the pandemic, NTU College of Public Health dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said in the college’s 12th weekly report on COVID-19.

  Aside from infected people who have produced antibodies, the majority of the global population does not have antibodies for the novel coronavirus, so developing a vaccine has become an urgent problem for governments, he said.

  Chan said that the government should view the global competition to develop testing kits, medication and vaccines as if “in time of war,” and loosen the regulations for experiments and clinical trials — for example by allowing the omission of certain steps, allowing some procedures to be conducted simultaneously, or giving advanced approval.

  “The government had prepared in advance to block the virus at the nation’s borders, but it must continue to make advance preparations regarding disease prevention technology by loosening regulations and investing more funding,” he said.

  Analyzing the global spread of COVID-19 in the past week, college vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said that the spread in Europe seems to have slowed, but cases in the Maldives, Bangladesh and Singapore have increased rapidly.

  While the spread in New Zealand and Australia has slowed, the number of cases in South Africa increased, as the country had boosted its testing capacity in the past two weeks, Chen said.

  He also used the epidemic curve of the Diamond Princess cruise ship to estimate the progress of an outbreak on the navy supply ship Panshih (磐石). A cluster of 31 cases have been confirmed among its crew.

  “Based on the index case having suffered the onset of symptoms around March 23, the estimated number of infected people is about 70, with a possible 31 people having recovered and 39 people still infected,” he said.

  Chen said that the cluster on the vessel is “very unlikely” to cause community infection, adding that as the crew are all under centralized quarantine, this would be a good chance to use their antibody test results to evaluate herd immunity on an infected vessel, which would also benefit the development of medication and a vaccine.
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