KEY POINTS 24,963 individuals worldwide have been cured of coronavirus

Both pharmaceutical medicines and traditional therapies have helped

But experts warn that infection can recur and patients should be quarantined even after being discharged

Data from the Center for System Research at Johns Hopkins University revealed that 24,963 individuals worldwide have been cured of coronavirus with the total number of infected grown to 79,360.

It also reported that 2619 individuals have died due to coronavirus infection. Although 80% of the cases are from China, other countries including South Korea, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Iran, Thailand, U.S., Taiwan, Australia, Malaysia, and Germany, have also reported confirmed cases of the infection.

South Korea reported 763 cases making it the world’s largest nation infected with coronavirus outside China. The country has seen a rapid surge in the cases since a cluster of infections emerged from Shincheonji Church in the Southern city of Daegu, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

China has over 80 running or pending clinical trials on potential treatments for COVID-19. New pharmaceutical medicines have been listed beside traditional therapies in a public registry of china’s clinical trials. Although there is no known cure, physicians are eager to help the patients but experts caution that only carefully conducted trials will determine which measures work.

Per the chief scientist at the WHO, their team has been taking stock of China’s clinical trials alongside planning for a clinical trial protocol that could be run simultaneously by clinicians worldwide.

“The WHO's clinical-trial protocol is designed to be flexible and allow researchers around the world to pool their results over time. It will compare two or three therapies backed by scientific evidence, including an HIV-drug combination (lopinavir and ritonavir) and an experimental antiviral called remdesivir,” mentioned Nature.

According to the Mayo Clinic, treatment for COVID-19 is directed at relieving symptoms and might include pain relievers, cough syrups, rest and fluid intake.

According to Zhao Jianping, the head of the coronavirus containment team in worst-affected Hubei province, a minority of individuals who recovered and got discharged from hospitals after they tested negative for the virus, tested positive again.

Although different provinces have different criteria for deciding if a person has recovered from coronavirus, in general, Chinese hospitals required the patients to test negative twice in a row and to exhibit no symptoms, especially a fever. The experts warn that a person who deemed recovered can go back home and infect other people they get in contact with and suggests that the recovered patients must be quarantined for a couple of weeks.