The Wuhan story
Tuesday 12 May 2020 – 1pm
The population of Wuhan (9.78 million) is very similar to that of London (9.3 million). It is China's sixth biggest city in terms of population. If you take the BBC number of its population (11 million) Wuhan is substantially larger than London. Yet they are about to embark on a 'Ten Day Battle' – to keep on top of Coronavirus – and test every single one of their citizens. This is an enormously ambitious, costly, imaginative and determined plan. Somehow I just cannot see this ever happening here.
As I have mentioned before, we have some friends who live in a suburb of Wuhan and I am in regular contact with them. From time to time she gives us a quick run-down on what is happening and what has changed.
The most signnificant thing is the mood. My contact is feeling understandably up beat. Her daughter has resumed school and is in the final year (the equivalent of A levels) and will be taking those key exams very soon. Clearly she will graduate with honours, despite having spent four months locked down and receiving only on-line lessons. Her English is quite amazingly good and her brain is sharp. My contact's husband is a public health doctor and has been in the Covid front line since the start. As a family they have got this far calmly, and completely without complaint.
Now, almost jublilantly, she sends me some photos of the resumption of school and how things work there. The pictures are largely self-explanatory. Entrances are manned with safety and disinfectant workers, airport-style temperature gates, masks compulsory, social spacing automatic in queues, every second row in classrooms unoccupied, dining hall spacing compulsory. Just what you would expect and what you would hope will happen here at the appropriate moment.
Wuhan's citizens were in lockdown for 11 weeks. They had no new cases at all since 3 April, but this weekend, with the re-opening of many (but not all) schools and services, they have recorded six new cases. They want to react fast to outbreaks of this sort and the Ten Day Battle plan is to kill any outbreaks and protect by doing so. They plan to prioritise older people in testing. We wish them luck.
We will be trying to react soon to fresh outbreaks as the premature loosening of lockdown causes an upsurge of deaths. This is inevitable. Experts have made it clear. While we pray for our own citizens, let us keep the citizens of Wuhan in mind and pray for them too. Let us also watch them closely and learn as much as we can. It's not too late.
The population of Wuhan (9.78 million) is very similar to that of London (9.3 million). It is China's sixth biggest city in terms of population. If you take the BBC number of its population (11 million) Wuhan is substantially larger than London. Yet they are about to embark on a 'Ten Day Battle' – to keep on top of Coronavirus – and test every single one of their citizens. This is an enormously ambitious, costly, imaginative and determined plan. Somehow I just cannot see this ever happening here.
As I have mentioned before, we have some friends who live in a suburb of Wuhan and I am in regular contact with them. From time to time she gives us a quick run-down on what is happening and what has changed.
The most signnificant thing is the mood. My contact is feeling understandably up beat. Her daughter has resumed school and is in the final year (the equivalent of A levels) and will be taking those key exams very soon. Clearly she will graduate with honours, despite having spent four months locked down and receiving only on-line lessons. Her English is quite amazingly good and her brain is sharp. My contact's husband is a public health doctor and has been in the Covid front line since the start. As a family they have got this far calmly, and completely without complaint.
Now, almost jublilantly, she sends me some photos of the resumption of school and how things work there. The pictures are largely self-explanatory. Entrances are manned with safety and disinfectant workers, airport-style temperature gates, masks compulsory, social spacing automatic in queues, every second row in classrooms unoccupied, dining hall spacing compulsory. Just what you would expect and what you would hope will happen here at the appropriate moment.
Wuhan's citizens were in lockdown for 11 weeks. They had no new cases at all since 3 April, but this weekend, with the re-opening of many (but not all) schools and services, they have recorded six new cases. They want to react fast to outbreaks of this sort and the Ten Day Battle plan is to kill any outbreaks and protect by doing so. They plan to prioritise older people in testing. We wish them luck.
We will be trying to react soon to fresh outbreaks as the premature loosening of lockdown causes an upsurge of deaths. This is inevitable. Experts have made it clear. While we pray for our own citizens, let us keep the citizens of Wuhan in mind and pray for them too. Let us also watch them closely and learn as much as we can. It's not too late.
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