China

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Fri Feb 21, 2020 12:45 pm

For reliable information on the Coronavirus outbreak, check this site
20 FEBRUARY, 2020 ~ 2 COMMENTS
While the media in a small number of former colonising countries (the ‘zero-sum stragglers’) may be full of gossip, lies and propaganda, the best place to keep up to date with reliable information on the cornoavirus outbreak is at China Daily. This news outlet provides a daily table that sums up the situation.

For example, today’s table is as follows:

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You will notice that the rate of new infections has fallen dramatically and that the number of those recovered is now almost eight times the number of those who have died (who are 80 percent elderly and with underlying medical conditions). The recovery rate has been increasing almost daily, so keep checking the China Daily site.

We should keep in mind that thanks to China’s efforts – possible only with a socialist system – 99 percent of cases have been restricted to China. This is clearly a model for the rest of the world to follow, given that future outbreaks arising from the human-animal disease cycle will occur in the future, anywhere in the world.

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China Daily: http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/


ENGLISH.GOV.CN THE STATE COUNCIL THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA http://english.www.gov.cn/
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Mon Feb 24, 2020 4:57 pm

World health experts praise China's virus control
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-02-24 11:08


A number of world health experts have expressed their support for China's battle against the epidemic caused by novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

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Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme attends the news conference on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Switzerland Feb 11, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

If you look at what's happening in Wuhan now, the government authorities in China spent a number of weeks pressuring the virus, and you saw the numbers have dropped away. Now they have engaged in door-to-door surveillance and they are going around doing active surveillance. This is a very good public health practice.

Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme

We did appreciate the speed with which the new coronavirus was identified by Chinese investigators and the unprecedented containment effort which is being conducted.

Franco Servadei, president of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies

It's pretty much unprecedented. No one has attempted something like this in history to my knowledge. In many countries it would be impossible to even try.

Arthur Reingold, epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley

While expensive, it's more than worth it. It prevents spread of serious illnesses. And it's far less costly than having to hospitalize many patients who could contract the coronavirus infection.

Lawrence Gostin, expert in public health law and professor at Georgetown University

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Inspectors visit a home for a household survey at a residential community in the Jianghan district of Wuhan, Hubei province on Feb 17, 2020. [Photo by Su Feng/chinadaily.com.cn]

I am terribly impressed (by China's containment measures). I think more people should be praising China. I am very pleased that the WHO is praising china as well for its huge efforts. We will benefit from that. All the rest of the world will benefit from that.

John Sydney Oxford, virologist and professor of Queen Mary, University of London

As of now, quarantine isolation is the main measure for preventing the spread of the virus. The Chinese government has shut down local passenger transportation in the affected regions.

Pavel Volchkov, head of the Genome Engineering Lab at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

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Experts check protective suits for each other before entering the laboratory in Enshi, Central China's Hubei province, Feb 21, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 79c75.html

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Tue Feb 25, 2020 2:47 pm

Nation bans consumption of wild animals
By Cao Yin | China Daily | Updated: 2020-02-25 04:23

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Workers catch a giant salamander which is still alive outside the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan city, Hubei province, Jan 27, 2020. [Photo by Yuan Zheng/chinadaily.com.cn]

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which is widely believed to have originated in wild animals, has prompted China's top legislature to roll out a swift decision to comprehensively ban the eating of wildlife across the country.

It also adopted a decision on Monday to postpone its annual plenary session, which usually starts on March 5.

A decision made by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Monday has made it clear that all wildlife on the protection list of the existing Wild Animal Protection Law or other laws, and all terrestrial wildlife, including those artificially bred and farmed, are banned from consumption.

The decision, with immediate effect, also calls for harsh penalties for the hunting, trading and transportation of wild animals on the protection list of existing laws. The hunting, trading and transportation of wild terrestrial animals for purposes of consumption are newly banned, according to the new decision.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said on Monday that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, there has been much positive progress in epidemic prevention and control work. Li said the latest decision of the top legislature is to safeguard people's lives and health.

He instructed related authorities to strictly implement the decision, strengthen market supervision, harshly crack down on the illegal wildlife trade and promote environmental protection and public health awarenesses.

He also said that postponing the NPC plenary session this year is a careful decision that could help concentrate efforts on fighting the epidemic.

The novel coronavirus, which had infected 77,150 people on the Chinese mainland as of Sunday, had killed 2,592, according to the National Health Commission. The virus is thought to have emerged at a seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where wildlife was also sold illegally, according to media reports.

Zang Tiewei, a spokesman for the committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said on Monday that the latest decision consists of eight articles.

"Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the prominent problem of recklessly eating wild animals and its potential risk to public health have aroused wide public concern," he said.

"But amending the Wild Animal Protection Law needs to go through legislative procedures. At the critical moment in epidemic prevention and control, it's highly necessary and noteworthy for the NPC Standing Committee to pass a special decision."

A decision made by the NPC Standing Committee is usually about a single issue and not as comprehensive and systematic as a law, but such decisions have equal legal effect.

However, since fishing is an important agricultural mode of production and also an internationally accepted practice, aquatic wild animals like fish are not on the prohibition list, according to Yang Heqing, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission's economic law office.

Common poultry and livestock like pigs, cattle and sheep are also not on the list.

Animals that have been farm-raised for a long time so as to have become widely accepted by the public, and that form value chains helpful in local poverty alleviation, such as pigeons and rabbits, are also excluded, Yang said.

However, such animals should be managed under the category of poultry and livestock, and relevant central government departments should draft and publicize a list of such animals and put them under strict inspection and quarantine measures.

"The decision may bring economic losses to some farmers who raise animals. Local governments should support and help them to adjust and transform production, and offer them compensation depending on the practical situation," Yang said.

Also, under some special circumstances and with the regulations of relevant laws, wild animals can be used for nonedible purposes, such as for scientific research, for drugs and display. But strict application and approval procedures are required, according to the decision.

Violators will be severely punished, and venues for illegal production and trade will be seized and closed, the decision said.

Next, the NPC Standing Committee plans to amend the Wild Animal Protection Law, and a draft revision to the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law is expected to be submitted for review in the near future, said Zang, the spokesman for the Legislative Affairs Commission.

The top legislature is also accelerating legislation on biological security, and is considering revising the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and some other laws to improve the public health emergency management system, he added.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 79ef6.html

A very welcome move. Though the railing in the West against these practices is thoroughly tinged with racism there certainly is a scientific basis, though better examined on a species basis. Nonetheless this is a break for biodiversity, given the growth of China's ephemeral middle class the pressure on some wild populations has been drastic. To a degree an attempt to hang on to culinary tradition(I drive to coast once a year for a bushel of live crabs...) it is one of those few cases where Thorstein Veblen is relevant( Conspicuous consumption). But still a pittance relative to the devastation to natural system driven by the consumption of the Western middle class.
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Wed Feb 26, 2020 1:48 pm

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Novel coronavirus outbreak puts fresh spotlight on media's racism
By Chen Weihua | China Daily | Updated: 2020-02-14 07:27

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While covering the World Health Organization news briefings in the past days, I was struck by how many times WHO officials have reminded people to refrain from using the novel coronavirus to stigmatize people.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO's Health Emergencies Program and Sylvie Briand, director of WHO Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness have all expressed that message.

The main content of their briefings, of course, is how to rally the world to fight the virus given the short window of opportunity that is available, an opportunity created by the serious measures China is taking in Wuhan and other cities, according to the WHO.

When the WHO on Tuesday named the disease caused by the novel coronavirus as COVID-19, it stated that it wanted to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an individual or group of people.

The WHO chief stressed that having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing. He was clearly referring to racially charged terms used by some news outlets and politicians.

For example, a Feb 3 Wall Street Journal column titled "China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia" by Walter Russell Mead, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, displayed a total lack of sensitivity and journalistic ethics, especially at a time when people across China were combating the novel coronavirus.

When reporting the controversy, some Western media, such as the Euronews, still don't get why such a headline would constitute an insult to all Chinese since they never knew how that term has been used by Western imperialists, including Japanese invaders during WWII, to humiliate the Chinese. Using that kind of racial slur is as offensive to Chinese as using N-word for African-Americans, which the newspaper would not use. It is truly despicable for a respected newspaper like the Wall Street Journal.

The same is true when French newspaper Le Courrier Picard and its online edition ran respective headlines titled "Yellow Alert" and "New Yellow Peril?", triggering an immediate outcry from the Asian community in France.

A racist color-metaphor to describe East Asians by Western colonial powers, such a headline should be condemned by every reader with a conscience and every journalist with professional ethical standards.

However, the two papers are quite different. Le Courrier Picard has since apologized while the Wall Street Journal has not.

As journalists, we all know what words to avoid when it comes to people of disability, and people who are lesbian, gay and transgender and various ethnic groups. It is not about restricting freedom of press but rather upholding ethical journalism and a basic human conscience.

Germany, for example, places strict limits on speech and expression when it comes to neo-Nazis. It is illegal to produce, distribute or display symbols of the Nazi era-swastikas, the Hitler salute. Holocaust denial is also illegal in Germany.

However, when Jyllands-Posten, a Danish daily paper, printed a cartoon of the Chinese national flag with virus-like symbols in place of the five stars, it infuriated the Chinese who regard blasphemy of their national flag as an insult to all Chinese.

While the newspaper editor refused to apologize, what makes things worse was Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen who jumped out to eagerly defend the paper's freedom of speech instead of denouncing its insult.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is unfortunate and a "common enemy" for the world to fight as the WHO has urged. But it also exposes how racism is still a serious disease that plagues human society in the 21st century.

The author is chief of China Daily EU Bureau based in Brussels.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 776e4.html
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Fri Feb 28, 2020 2:28 pm

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The latest figures reported by each government's health authority as of Feb 28, 2020.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 73202.html
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Sun Mar 01, 2020 2:12 pm

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39,002 mainland coronavirus patients have recovered, the first time the number has surpassed remaining confirmed cases

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/ ... 73202.html

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Decisive point in battle against epidemic calls for greater unity of purpose: China Daily editorial
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-03-01 19:19

Since the novel coronavirus has spread to 44 countries on all continents except Antarctic, the World Health Organization warned for the first time on Friday that the virus could soon reach most, "if not all" countries around the world.

That alarming message came shortly after Nigeria confirmed sub-Saharan Africa's first case of infection with the novel coronavirus, which might raise the curtain for the virus' fast spread among countries in the region, some of which are among the least developed.

Although China has largely brought the epidemic under control outside of Hubei province, where the outbreak originated and where the situation now appears to be stabilizing, the wild transmission of the virus in the Republic of Korea, Italy and Iran has brought the total number of infected cases in the three countries to nearly 5,000 as of Sunday from less than one-tenth that many just one week ago.

China's experience shows that if this momentum is unchecked in a comparatively short time, which can arguably be realized only by reducing population mobility, it will only be a matter of time before the number of cases in China is dwarfed by that in the rest of the world.

Regrettably the one thing that has accompanied the virus' spread around the world has been divisiveness rather than solidarity. Yet as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Friday, the world has come to "a decisive point".

With some countries waging an all-out war against the virus, some seem unconcerned, which is evidenced by the fact that some of the countries with confirmed infections were caught by the virus almost unprepared, while some are feeling no qualms about appealing to racism and pointing the finger of blame at those battling against the virus on the front line in Asia, particularly China.

The spread of the virus worldwide has only served to further aggravate the prejudiced view that some have of China.

They never mention the sacrifices that China has made in its fight against the virus or that it is China that obtained and shared the genetic sequence of the virus; or that China is trying to resume its industrial production and business operations to cushion the epidemic's shocks not only to its own economy but to the world economy and the global supply chains.

They will never admit that it is the Chinese people's brave fight against the virus, particularly the residents in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, that earned the world a valuable window of opportunity to rein in the virus.

It would appear that the only reason that those spraying dirty water on China care about whether the virus will indeed spread to every country in the world is that they will then have an even bigger stick with which to try and beat China.

Despite the stigmatization of those who would like to see the virus ravage China's image and impede its development, the country is willing to collaborate on control and prevention measures with all countries to better protect the safety and health of people worldwide.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 7b5dc.html
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Mon Mar 02, 2020 2:24 pm

Punishment given in case of infected Wuhan woman returning to Beijing
By Xin Wen | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-03-02 21:28

[Photo/IC]
Four departments in Beijing, including a highway checkpoint, sub-district community, Beijing CDC, and related property management companies, were punished after a probe into the case of an infected woman returning to Beijing from Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak, in February, a senior capital official said on Monday.

A group was established on Feb 26 by the Beijing Commission for Discipline Inspection to conduct an investigation on how the infected woman, an ex-prisoner surnamed Huang, was driven by her family members to the capital and entered a neighborhood community. Group members looked for loopholes in the capital's epidemic prevention and control work, said Xiao Sa, a senior official at the capital's Discipline Inspection Commission, in a daily media briefing on efforts to combat the virus in Beijing on Monday.

Xiao said the expressway that Huang traveled to enter Beijing only had one auxiliary policeman at the checkpoint to conduct body temperature checks on Huang and her family members, which showed normal temperature results. The highway staff didn't check their identities again, as required.

The Xinyijiayuan community in Beijing's Dongcheng district, where Huang and her family live, also allowed cars to drive in if the vehicles had been recorded previously; taking body temperature was not required, Xiao said.

"It resulted in Huang and the people who followed her entering the parking lot directly," he said.

Additionally, Xiao said telephone operators at the Beijing Center for Prevention and Disease Control replied, "There are no restrictions in Beijing's traffic as long as you can get on the highway in Wuhan," to queries from Huang's family about whether a car from Wuhan could enter the capital.

The on-duty auxiliary police officer at the checkpoint on the highway was dismissed and the deputy director of the inspection station, who oversaw the auxiliary police that day, has been removed from office, Xiao said. The Chongwai sub-district office that manages the Xinyijiayuan community also was reported on its accountability, he added.

Punishment given in case of infected Wuhan woman returning to Beijing
By Xin Wen | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-03-02 21:28

The Beijing CDC had been ordered to strengthen rectification and the head of the Xinshijie Property Management Co Ltd responsible for parking in the Xinyijiayuan community was summoned for a talk, according to Xiao.

The local district public security bureau also carried out an investigation on whether Huang and her family's actions violated the law, said Pan Xuhong, deputy director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

Huang, who had been transferred to and received medical treatment at Beijing Ditan Hospital, and three of her close contacts tested negative after their second nucleic acid test on March 1, according to Zhao Lingyun, deputy director of Beijing Dongcheng district government.

Zhao said all neighborhood communities in Dongcheng will implement more stringent closed management measures to strengthen epidemic prevention efforts. For example, each vehicle should have one permit to get into the community and every community resident holds one pass.

"For all people who return from Hubei now, the district government will contact them one by one to clarify the requirement of not returning to the capital," said Zhao.

Beijing reported one new confirmed novel coronavirus case on Monday, a close contact with the previously confirmed case, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 414 as of Sunday midnight.

Six patients have been cured and released from the hospital in Beijing, with the oldest 56 years old and the youngest three, according to the city's health commission.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202003/0 ... 7bb0a.html

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Coronavirus may not have originated in China

1 MARCH, 2020 ~ LEAVE A COMMENT
Scientifically based evidence takes a while to emerge, but with an increasing number of cases of the Novel Coronavirus appearing in other places in people who have not been to China and have had not contact with people who have the virus, a new paradigm is beginning to emerge.

It began with the ‘hero of SARS’, Zhong Nanshan, who observed in his regular briefing that COVID-19 may not have originated in China. Zhong is a widely respected authority of epidemics, to whom people listen with attention, and he does not make his comments without due consideration of scientific evidence.

Since then, further research has identified a distinct possibility that this new virus may well have originated elsewhere, outside China. As is the nature of scientific research, proper work takes time and conclusions should be drawn warily. But this is clearly an interesting development.

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Sun Mar 08, 2020 1:01 pm

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Latest data released by National Health Commission by midnight, March 7, 2020.

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The latest figures reported by each government's health authority as of March 8, 2020.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 7b4ba.html

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China to offer more supplies to battle virus
By Ma Si, Cheng Yu in Beijing and Liu Kun in Wuhan | China Daily | Updated: 2020-03-07 07:30

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Workers make face masks in the workshop of a textile company in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, Feb 12, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
Ministry: Nation expands production to help with worldwide outbreak struggle

China will help countries facing inadequate supplies in their battle against the novel coronavirus epidemic by encouraging domestic producers to export their products, the nation's top industry regulator said on Friday.

The move is part of the nation's broader efforts to facilitate the global fight against the outbreak, and it comes as China's production capacity of crucial medical supplies is rapidly rising.

The World Health Organization last month called on producers and distributors of much-needed anti-epidemic products to help meet global demand.

Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Wang Jiangping said, "China encourages domestic makers of medical goods and preventive supplies to meet growing foreign demand."

China has already satisfied demand for medical supplies ranging from ventilators and protective suits to testing kits and key drugs in Hubei province, epicenter of the epidemic, Wang said.

Daily output of protective suits in China has now reached 500,000 units, marking a surge from less than 20,000 at the beginning of the epidemic, the ministry said.

Factories across the country can now churn out 1.6 million N95 surgical masks every day, up from 200,000 before the outbreak.

As confirmed cases of COVID-19 increase overseas, domestic manufacturers of medical and preventive supplies are encouraged to export their products to ease mounting strains facing other countries, Wang added.

Amid the epidemic, a string of Chinese companies revamped their factories to produce surgical masks. In Fujian province, for example, workers at diaper manufacturer Daddy Baby are busy making masks.

"We believe each mask we produce may save one more person," said Lin Yanting, the company's deputy general manager.

China is also intensifying its push to help companies resume work to maintain economic stability amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Wang said foreign-invested companies and domestic enterprises are treated equally and they can enjoy the same favorable policies China has rolled out to encourage work resumption.

"The fundamentals of China's long-term sound economic growth remain unchanged while the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak are generally controllable," Wang added.

China has taken a series of measures, including financing and fiscal policies, to help firms resume operations. More effort will be made to encourage small and medium-sized firms to restart work, the official said.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo Group-the world's largest personal computer maker-said most of its Chinese plants have resumed production and one of its major PC factories in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, reached full capacity earlier this month.

Yang said the outbreak will not damage China's leading role in the global supply chain.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 7d153.html

Is this a metaphor?
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 10, 2020 3:51 pm

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Latest data released by National Health Commission by midnight, March 9, 2020.

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The latest figures reported by each government's health authority as of March 10, 2020.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20200 ... 7b4ba.html

Expect the US to be in the box above by next week. And possibly to surpass China in total cases by May.
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:58 pm

Phases of Responses to an Epidemic
10 MARCH, 2020 ~ 3 COMMENTS
While holed up in a quiet corner as the COVID-19 epidemic sweeps the world, I have been intrigued by the worst and best in human responses to the epidemic. There seem at this stage to be a few phases, but I am sure there will be more as the epidemic unfolds over the rest of the year.

Let me say that I have had to cancel all travel for the foreseeable future, not merely because the air-conditioned nature of many forms of travel are now highly risky situations (COVID-19 can reach up to amost 5 metres and remain in such environments for up to half an hour after an infected person has left), but also because the useless travel insurance companies will not cover you if you travel to a part of the world that has even the threat of an epidemic. To be clear: I was planning to go to Europe to join my wife, but now that cases in Europe are rising rapidly, the travel insurance was certainly not going to help me if I contracted the virus. So I am staying put. Actually, I would love to be in China, since it is the safest place in the world right now. Already, about 60,000 (out of 80,000) have recovered and new infections are very few indeed.

As for the phases:

Phase 1: Racism.
With the first news of a new virus first identified in Wuhan only a couple of months ago, the uglier side of human responses became obvious. In those few parts of the world that used to be colonisers – the ‘West’ – highly offensive and openly racist statements were made in the media and by political ‘leaders’. I will not repeat them here, but they also appeared official travel restrictions and in everyday comments and actions, such as avoiding Chinese restaurants. Sure, they were dressed up as anti-communist Sinophobia, but they were a more blatant form of the official racism and hate speech that has been run-of-the-mill for a couple of years now.

At the same, people in countries who have experienced such forms of colonial racism were quick to send aid to China where needed, especially in terms of much-needed medical equipment while local producers caught up. Think of South Korea and even Japan, who were quick to help their Asian neighbour.

Phase 2: Rumour
They say that the first casualty in war is truth. The same applies to an epidemic. Rumours flew, aided by social media and a good number of deliberate efforts to seed such rumours. The rumours included a supposedly secret ‘biochemical weapons’ laboratory in Wuhan, from which the virus escaped. Or the completely false depiction of Chinese people eating bats. Or that another country had unleashed a biochemical attack on China. Or that the Russians were to blame for accusing the USA of a biochemical weapins attack. Or that China had secretly weaponised the virus to get back at the USA. Or that all sorts of weird and wonderful things could cure you from infection. On they went.

Thankfully, the media outlets in places of the world where responsible media is a reality – such as China – were soon up to the task. They provided up-to-date services with reliable information for people, while the World Health Organisation worked hard with its ‘myth-busters’ service. Indeed, it was precisely the WHO that came in early, with people on the ground in China and the formulation of a distinct plan of action.

Phase 3: From Complacency to Reality
This phase was my experience. Since I was in a relatively remote corner of the world, largely by myself, I assumed that the whole epidemic was happening ‘over there’ and that it would not affect me too much. I pondered matters such as the human-animal disease cycle but largely kept to usual patterns of life. I continued to make travel plans and thought things would be fine in the immediate future. I was keen to get back to China, since I feel so much at home there.

Then it finally hit: this is actually serious (as my Chinese friends had been warning me for some time).

The outcome: I cannot travel. I need to be very wary of public gatherings. I need to wear a face-mask when out. I need to be extra careful in Australia, since the regime here is alarmingly inept, even as more and more schools in the major cities have cases of COVID-19. So I will to stay put for a few months, if not the rest of the year.

The plans of yesterday change today, and will change again tomorrow.

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