Yuen Kwok-yung says containment will not wipe out virus

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said today containment cannot eradicate the new coronavirus as it has spread around the world and countries are seemingly unable to cut off transmission chains.

He said the epidemic will de-escalate when most people can produce anti-bodies naturally after being infected, but how long this will take can not be estimated.

Currently only 0.1 percent of people are immune, and Yuen estimates that this will increase by 5 percent every year. The number of virus infections will be few when 70 percent of people have anti-bodies, he said.

Yuen said according to information provided by mainland officials, there is no relapse in patients who recovered from the virus and that HKU has also found that the volume of anti-bodies in recovered Hong Kong patients is high. He estimates that they will be immune for at least five to 10 years.

As for preventing imported cases, Yuen suggests the Hong Kong government request visitors from outbreak countries to provide a medical certificate and undergo 14 days of quarantine, and only allow entry if they test negative.