A woman gets COVID-19 test at a makeshift test site in Kew Gardens, one of the COVID-19 hotspot areas in New York City, the United States, Oct. 6, 2020. Photo:Xinhua

 The number of people infected with COVID-19 worldwide now exceeds 40 million, and only nine cases are considered to be possible cases of reinfection, accounting for only a small portion so it is not considered a scientific problem, prominent Chinese infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong said during the Pujiang Innovation Forum held in Shanghai on Thursday.

When secondary infection cases were reported around the world, it aroused the public’s concerns about the virus. However, Zhang said that it can’t be confirmed that the human immune system will be destroyed by the virus, noting that the most important task currently is to research effective vaccines and therapeutic drugs.

Among the nine possible secondary infection cases, there might be individual reasons such as the patients’ own immune system problems, Zhang explained.

In his view, effective drugs can reduce the mortality rate, and effective vaccines can protect people who have weakened immune systems.

As long as the tasks are completed, the world can be reopened. So far, there are no therapeutic drugs or vaccines on the market.

The latest COVID-19 outbreak in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province, exposed loopholes in epidemic prevention and control in the city. Zhang noted that the small-scale cases that have occurred recently in China have been brought under control quickly, and the current preventive policies and measures taken in the country can prevent and control the epidemic. 

Zhang said the next step is to meet the needs of economic development worldwide, which requires global cooperation and technological innovation.