City research found key to control pandemic
Local scientists confirmed the effect of reducing human contact in infectious disease prevention and control and provided important evidence and suggestions for the government during the coronavirus pandemic.
The team led by Yu Hongjie from the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University phoned residents in Shanghai and Wuhan, the then epicenter, in February last year to study the change in social contacts during the pandemic.
The research found it had been reduced by 80 percent with most social contact taking place inside people’s own families.
After analysing the whereabouts of confirmed cases, Yu’s team was the first in the world to testify that reducing social contact could control the pandemic. The results offered strong evidence and support for the government’s policies and provided a reference for other countries.
Yu and his team conducted other studies after the coronavirus outbreak, including the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of coronavirus, the disease burden and clinical severity of coronavirus, and global inoculation research, publishing 16 papers.
Currently, Yu is studying global vaccination measures and plans to offer support for vaccine distribution and inoculation policy around the world.
Yu Hongjie (center) with his team in the lab.
The team led by Yu Hongjie (center) is the first in the world to testify that reducing social contact could control the coronavirus pandemic.
