• There were 4,731,458 confirmed cases (112,637 new) globally, and 316,169 people (4,322 new) have lost their lives by 10:00 CEST May 19, according to the daily COVID-19 situation report released by the World Health Organization.
• No new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in central China's Hubei Province on Tuesday, the provincial health commission said Wednesday.
• Chinese researchers have successfully identified multiple highly potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. This virus causes COVID-19, from convalescent plasma by high-throughput single-cell sequencing, according to a new study published in Cell on Sunday.

Chinese researchers identify highly potent neutralizing antibodies against COVID-19

Chinese researchers have successfully identified multiple highly potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from convalescent plasma by high-throughput single-cell sequencing, according to a new study published in Cell on Sunday. Generated by the human immune system, neutralizing antibodies can effectively prevent viruses from infecting cells. New results from animal studies showed that neutralizing antibodies provide a potential cure for COVID-19 as well as a means for short-term prevention, which marks a significant milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

According to the research team, led by Sunney Xie, director of the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics at Peking University, antibody drugs, as a kind of biologics, have been successfully applied to treat viruses like AIDS, Ebola, and MERS. However, it is often time-consuming to develop neutralizing antibodies suitable for clinical use, taking months or even years. By using their expertise in single-cell genomics, the team collaborated with researchers at Beijing YouAn Hospital to collect blood samples from over 60 convalescent patients, among which 14 highly potent neutralizing antibodies were selected from 8,558 antigen-binding IgG1+ clonotypes.

Their animal experiments showed that the most potent antibody, BD-368-2, could provide strong therapeutic efficacy and prophylactic protection against SARS-CoV-2. According to the study, when the BD-368-2 antibody was injected into infected mice, the virus load was decreased by 2,400 times, and when uninfected mice were injected with BD-368-2, they were protected from being infected by the virus. The potent neutralizing antibody could be used to develop drugs for both therapeutic intervention and prophylactic protection against SARS-CoV-2, Xie told Xinhua in an email interview.

He said clinical trials are underway, and the research team has strong confidence in finding a cure. "If the COVID-19 epidemic reappears in the winter, our neutralizing antibody might be available by that time," Xie said.

China's Hubei reports no new confirmed COVID-19 cases

No new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in central China's Hubei Province on Tuesday, the provincial health commission said Wednesday. By Tuesday, Hubei had seven confirmed COVID-19 cases, including one in severe condition and one in critical condition.

The province reported 15 new asymptomatic cases on Tuesday, while 26 were released from quarantine. The total number of such cases under medical observation was 274 by Tuesday. A total of 283,727 close contacts of COVID-19 patients in the province had been tracked by Tuesday, 837 of whom were still under medical observation.

As of Tuesday, the death toll from the virus in the province stood at 4,512, including 3,869 in Wuhan. Hubei had so far reported 68,135 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,340 in Wuhan.