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China hopes to test a possible Covid-19 vaccine abroad as scientists look to carry out large-scale trials to test its effectiveness, South China Morning Post reports. 

Military scientists have been working on a vaccine and the results of the first-stage clinical trials will be announced later this month.

Chen Ling, a virologist at the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, said the second and third-stage trials would need thousands of subjects and carrying out these tests in the worst-hit countries would help to produce faster and more accurate results.

The disease, which is caused by a previously unknown coronavirus, was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread globally.

At least 900,000 cases have been confirmed and more than 45,000 people have died.

The number of cases recorded in Italy, Spain and the United States have now surpassed China’s total.

The first stage of the clinical trial for the vaccine started in Wuhan on March 16, with 108 volunteers receiving injections.