Premier Li Keqiang urged achieving breakthroughs in medical technologies as part of efforts to control the novel coronavirus epidemic during a visit to the emergency center for drugs and medical devices on Feb 28.

Premier Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, is the head of the leading group on novel coronavirus prevention and control.

He stressed carrying out instructions from President Xi Jinping and putting in place measures rolled out by the leading group and the State Council.

More efforts should be made to tackle key problems in medical technologies and greater breakthroughs should be achieved in efficient detection reagents, drugs and vaccines amid the fight against the epidemic, the Premier said.

The Premier heard reports from related departments on the development and application of the novel coronavirus detection reagents. According to the officials, China has taken the lead in developing nucleic acid detection reagents, and the demand could be satisfied with current output.

Also, the antibody detection reagents and the reagents that can detect the novel coronavirus and five other respiratory diseases have been developed, they said.

Premier Li praised the progress, and said the detection reagents have played a critical role in the epidemic prevention and control.

He urged more work to be done to develop test kits that provide shorter testing time and more precise results and are easy to use in the next step.

Also, related equipment and personnel training should be improved for early diagnosis, quarantine and treatment as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus and increase the recovery rate, he said.

Experts said after scientific trials and clinical explorations, some Chinese and Western medicines effective for critically ill patients have been selected into treatment plan, and some drugs are undergoing clinical trials.

Premier Li asked about the effects and safety of these drugs, and said, “people are looking forward to the medicine against the virus , and I hope you can conduct further clinical trials and select several safe and reliable drugs with significant clinical effects for medical staff and the people.”

"With effective drugs, we could do a better job in saving critical patients, lowering the death rate, and preventing patients with mild symptoms from getting worse," he added.

Premier Li also paid particular attention to the development of vaccines, and learned about the progress of several ongoing technical routes as well as the schedule of clinical trials.

The vaccine is the ultimate solution over all the measures that have been taken to prevent and control the epidemic, the Premier said.

In addition to rapid pace in vaccine development, Premier Li said, the laws of science should be respected with strict standards.

He called for face-to-face cooperation of all sides for deep and joint research, and more international cooperation, to develop the vaccine as soon as possible.

Premier Li asked related departments to closely follow up the development and production of detection reagents, drugs, and vaccines with enhanced services and supervision.

The assessment and approval should be accelerated with no compromise in standards, he added.

In addition to more support to research, Premier Li said the research results should be released in a coordinated way with authoritative and reliable information for the public.

He urged the staff members of the platform to actively fulfill their responsibilities with flexible processing of urgent matters in frontline prevention and research.

The Premier also encouraged the drug researchers and medical workers to race against time in research and treatment, to win the battle against the epidemic.

Vice-Premier Liu He, State Councilors Wang Yong and Xiao Jie, and He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, joined the inspection.