While much of the attention on China's strategy to tackle the coronavirus has been focused on its strict and extensive lockdown, another aspect may have been even more crucial in halting the virus' spread, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) expert.

Margaret Harris, a senior official at WHO told CGTN's The Agenda that widespread testing, accompanied by a program to track down and monitor contacts of those infected, allowed the authorities to keep pace with the disease's progress and react rapidly to save lives.

Responding to a question posed on Twitter by a viewer about how China had managed to be more successful than other countries in controlling the spread of COVID-19, Harris pointed to several factors.

"Most people have got very excited about the lockdown where they asked everybody to stay home for a few weeks; but there are other things that we actually consider the most crucial. And one was they ensured that they tested everybody - and not only did they test everybody, they found the people around those individuals who were potentially exposed and ensured they followed them up.”

This meant the Chinese authorities were able to hospitalize those who needed it rapidly but also ensured that potential spreaders were identified and quarantined.

"Even if you have a very large outbreak you still must try to find every person who is infected and break it at that spot because this is how you reverse it; this is how you slow it down and this is how you get it under control," she said.

You can see more of Harris' answers to CGTN viewers' questions here

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