China's public health reforms may not prevent next virus: experts

Volunteers from the Blue Sky Rescue team, in protective suits, disinfect the Nangong comprehensive market following a new outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Beijing, China, June 18, 2020. Picture taken June 18, 2020. [Photo: Reuters]

China’s latest plans to overhaul its disease control system may not improve its ability to handle future virus outbreaks, according to some experts inside and outside the country.

The reforms, announced in late May, do not fix all the flaws exposed by the new coronavirus and do not tackle the issues of secrecy and censorship that many experts believe turned an isolated outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan into a pandemic.