- There were 3,759,967 confirmed cases (87,729 new) globally, and 259,474 people (5,429 new) have lost their lives by 10:00 CEST May 8.
- The Chinese mainland reported one new confirmed case of COVID-19 Friday, according to the National Health Commission on May 9. Also on Friday, fifteen new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported on the mainland.
- Xinhua reported that a joint Chinese research team has recently published the results of the first animal experiment of one COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the journal Science.
Xinhua reported that a joint Chinese research team has recently published the results of the first animal experiment of one COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the journal Science. A purified inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate (PiCoVacc) confers complete protection in non-human primates against COVID-19 strains circulating worldwide by eliciting potent humoral responses devoid of immunopathology, according to the research result. PiCoVacc was approved for the first and second phases of clinical trials by the National Medical Products Administration on April 13. It was also among the first batch of vaccine candidates approved for clinical research in China. The experimental results showed that PiCoVacc induced specific neutralizing antibodies of the novel coronavirus in mice, rats, and non-human primates. These antibodies neutralized multiple novel coronavirus strains, which were representative strains worldwide. The results show that all vaccinated macaques were largely protected against novel coronavirus infection with very small histopathological changes in their lungs. Viral loads also decreased significantly in all vaccinated macaques but increased slightly in control animals. Officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology noted that despite the exceptional circumstances, the vaccines developed must be based on scientific, safe, and effective rules.
A staff member tests samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a laboratory of Sinovac Biotech Ltd., in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
There were 3,759,967 confirmed cases (87,729 new) globally, and 259,474 people (5,429 new) have lost their lives by 10:00 CEST May 8, according to the daily COVID-19 situation report released by the World Health Organization.
The Chinese mainland reported one new confirmed case of COVID-19 Friday, according to the National Health Commission (NHC) May 9. Currently, 176 imported cases were taking treatment. Also on Friday, fifteen new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were reported on the mainland, while no one was confirmed of being infected with the virus and 33 were discharged from medical observation, according to the NHC. A total of 836 asymptomatic-infected patients were still under medical observation. The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,887 by the end of Friday, including 208 patients who were still being treated, altogether 78,046 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 4,633 people who died of the disease.
By Friday, 1,044 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 440 in Taiwan including six deaths. A total of 960 patients in Hong Kong, 40 in Macao and 355 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.