Wuhan's nightmare
The nCoV-19 (novel-Corona Virus 2019) epidemic that originated from Wuhan, China is now a pandemic. A recent update from the WHO reported that more than 146 countries have been affected. The coronavirus that causes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is communicable through contact with an infected person or touching surfaces harbouring droplets from an infected person. The symptoms of the infection might not appear up to at least 14 days (2 weeks) in humans.
In December 2019, Dr Li Wenliang a 29-year-old whistleblower tried warning the public to prepare for such an outbreak on social media. The doctor was warned by local officials from spreading any such news. China's government ignored and buried any evidence of the warning and were definitely not prepared for the outbreak. The first case of the virus was reported in Hubei province of China on the 11th January 2020, a month before the surge in cases during Jan-Feb 2020. Japan and Thailand were the first hosts to the virus after China. Studies are underway to understand the cause and the origin of the virus. There is scientific evidence to suggest that the current outbreak may have spread to humans from pangolins. The last SARS outbreak in 2003 was reported to have crossed the species barrier from bats.
The government had reported only a few cases showing that the severity of the outbreak was manageable, although the number of people being infected and killed by the virus was not under their control. The Chinese media were suppressed. Websites reporting any unofficial number of cases were shut down. The virus also made a significant outbreak on social media and spread like the fire in Australia during the same month. Memes poured in, some were sympathetic and others were not supportive. Ex-pats within the Wuhan region continuously updated the status of the ongoing situation. Popular topics of discussion were the construction of a hospital within 10 days which Wuhan succeeded in doing. Several experts criticized the inefficiency of the methods used by the government in handling the emergency.
Currently, China records the highest number of infected patients and deaths due to the nCoV-19 outbreak across the globe. Although the epicentre of the outbreak is shifting to the European continent, China is not in a position to answer how it is coping with this nightmare.