Chinese medical experts pose for a photo before boarding a plane at an airport in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, April 11, 2020. A team of 10 Chinese medical experts departed from Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, for Russia Saturday morning to help with its fight against the COVID-19.Photo:Xinhua

New coronavirus cases in Russia have a large possibility of rising continuously in the coming days and the country faces serious, complex challenges in combating the COVID-19 in the next one or two weeks, said a member of China's medical experts aid team to Russia.

Xu Songtao, deputy director of the Chinese CDC's Virology Institute, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview that in the coming two week, the keys to preventing a further jump in infections lie in the preventive measures Russia takes, the public's awareness of protection and laboratories' testing capabilities for the virus. The Chinese medical team has suggested that Russia test more people, including close contacts and high-risk groups, improve local communities' preventive measures, and tighten community management. 

Russia has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus infections in recent days, which has drawn worldwide attention. Russia confirmed 3,448 new infections on Thursday, bringing the country's total to 27,938 and setting a new one-day record in new cases in the country.

Xu and other nine members of China's medical team arrived in Moscow on Saturday to help the country combat the COVID-19. They arrived on a cargo plane sent by Russia. 

The team consists of experts in disease control and prevention, etiology, epidemiology, hospital administration, critical care medicine and respiratory treatment. They brought medical supplies including testing kits, facial masks, protective suits and gloves.

Xu told the Global Times that one reason for the sudden jump in the country's infections is that patients with mild symptoms and suspected cases are only required to undergo home quarantine. This may lead to family contagion, and some people may breach the isolation rule and go outside. 

Another reason, according to Xu, is that the screening of people entering the country and the blocking of community transmission both need improvement. At present, it seems that it's hard for them to implement the stringent community management measures that China did. 

The third reason is that the transmission rate (RO) of the coronavirus is approximately 2.5 to 3.5, so its speed of propagation is relatively fast. 

"Therefore, the future development of the epidemic in Russia is closely related to the prevention and control measures it takes," Xu said. He added that he heard Russia is considering more stringent measures including installing cameras to monitor people under home quarantine. 

The experts team has so far visited hospitals and clinics and met with officials in Moscow to exchange experience in combating the COVID-19. The Russia side expressed interest in China's early diagnosis, early report, early isolation and early treatment model and it will refer to it based on the country's own conditions. The team also shared experience in treating ordinary patients and critically ill patients. 

Currently, there are nine laboratories in Moscow that have the ability to conduct tests for coronavirus and the team visited one of them. The laboratory it visited can conduct 2,500 tests every day and its daily capacity will be enlarged to 4,000 soon. In the hospitals the team visited, ICU beds are enough to meet demand. 

However, in the coming two weeks, the country faces serious challenges.  The biggest challenge for Russia is that if the number of new infections and cases of critically ill patients continue to rise and set a new record every day, the country may face shortages in medical resources and ICU equipment.

According to Xu, Moscow plans to add 21,000 beds in the coming days to receive patients with relatively severe symptoms and those who meet the admission criteria.

The second challenge is from community contagion if the country cannot enforce stricter residential community management. The third challenge is to raise the number of people getting tested for the coronavirus, improve detection ability and contain the source of infection at the beginning. Xu said he learned that traffic and the number of people on the streets in Moscow had decreased by 80 percent. But still only one-third to two-thirds of people seen on the streets wear masks. Xu noted that it's necessary to improve the general public's awareness of self-protection. 

China has seen an increase in imported cases from Russia recently. According to Shanghai health authorities, 66 out of 204 passengers boarding a flight from Russia to Shanghai on Friday were infected with the coronavirus. The Heilongjiang health authorities said according to epidemiological investigation, most of the confirmed cases in Suifenhe, which borders Russia, worked at two large markets in Moscow.

Xu said the team also had video conferences with Chinese nationals and students in Russia to address their concerns.   

"We told them not to panic. Besides, the journey home is long and even if the person wears a face mask and glasses, there is still possibility of getting infected in a closed environment," Xu said.