A staff worker at the Wuhan Railway Station checks the infrared temperature monitoring system. Photo: Cui Meng/GT
 
 

A Chinese lawmaker said he plans to submit a proposal during this year's two sessions, suggesting the country build an artificial intelligence-based "skynet system" for real-time monitoring of epidemics and to prepare for possible biological wars in the future amid mounting infectious disease cases related to animals that have seriously threatened human lives in recent years. 

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019, it has had a major impact on the national economy and society. Problems in the early stages of epidemic prevention and control are important reasons for the huge cost and national efforts in the later stages.

How to establish a good early risk assessment and early warning plan for epidemic prevention and control, so that decision-makers can control every "possible critical turning point" of epidemic progress and take effective measures in a timely manner, is an important problem and a weakness currently, said Cheng Jing, a deputy to the National People's Congress and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. 

In order to cope with major new infectious diseases that may occur in the future, Cheng suggested that the country establish an automatic epidemic monitoring and reporting system covering all provinces, regions and municipalities directly under the central government. 

Through the combination of new pathogen detection technology and 5G communication, big data and artificial intelligence technology, a real-time and automated direct epidemic monitoring and reporting system can be set up for government policymakers to understand the evolution of the epidemic situation, Cheng said. 

"Only in this way can the country take preventive and control measures in a timely manner in the face of the epidemic outbreak or even the coming of a biological weapon war, to minimize the loss of life and damage to the national economy," Cheng said. 

Cheng explained the core components for the skynet system: one is to establish a network for pathogen detection equipment to provide accurate and timely data for early warning and monitoring of major outbreaks. The second is to set up a precise, fast detection platform to detect unknown and rare pathogens.

In a recent interview with the media, Cheng mentioned that a vehicle-mounted rapid detection chip system for common respiratory tract pathogens is expected to be put into use as soon as July. The system can detect the novel coronavirus accurately, conveniently and quickly.