China will reform its disease prevention and control system to address weaknesses exposed by the coronavirus outbreak, a senior health official has said.
China has been criticised domestically and abroad for being initially slow to react to the outbreak, which started in Wuhan. The virus has now infected almost 4 million people around the world, and almost 250,0000 people have died from the Covid-19 disease it causes.
“This coronavirus epidemic is a big test of our country’s governance and governing ability, and it exposed the weak links in how we address major epidemic and public health systems,” said Li Bin, the vice-minister of the China National Health Commission.
The commission intends to build a “centralised and efficient” chain of command, and modernise the disease prevention and control system, he said.
The commission also aims to make better use of data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to better trace and analyse viruses and distribute resources.
He said the commission planned to step up research on core technology, improve medical insurance and better ensure the availability of emergency materials.
China has not recorded any new deaths from coronavirus for 24 days.