Thread by @RARohde

According to the official statistics, the coronavirus epidemic in China has been leveling off with more than half of patients already recovered.

Only 119 new cases were reported yesterday, all but 5 of which were in Wuhan.

Taken at face value, these numbers appear to say that China is conquering the outbreak.

Do we trust these numbers? It is reasonable to be a bit skeptical since China already tried to cover-up the initial outbreak. chinamediaproject.org/2020/01/27/dra…

However, the World Health Organization thinks China's improved numbers are legitimate, and if you look at China's actions, it is reasonable to expect the situation could have improved.

China has taken many steps to fight the coronavirus, but perhaps the most significant is less well-known.

After weeks of struggling to meet demand, China is now producing 1.6 million coronavirus tests per week and has expanded their testing to include everyone who has a fever.

In short, China is now testing like crazy.

The province of Guangdong reportedly ran 320,000 coronavirus tests on people with fever or other mild symptoms in order to identify a mere 450 new coronavirus cases.

And China's massive testing program appears to be working. If you test everyone with mild symptoms as well as anyone whose been close to a known case, then you can find and isolate the infected.

Do that fast enough, and you interrupt transmission.

I feel like China is giving the world a blueprint for how to conquer this coronavirus. Test very widely, test often, and isolate the infected.

Do enough of that, and I think countries would have a reason to believe that this coronavirus is beatable.