America rushes to open up in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Stores, gyms, and restaurants now welcome people while deaths and new cases continue to mount. What’s going to happen?
Wuhan, the city where the virus started, began opening up several weeks ago. I spent six years in Wuhan, China, returning to the U.S. in February, and keep in contact with friends who live in the city.
What’s life like in the central China city of eleven million now that they’ve opened up again? Seeing what’s happening in Wuhan might give us a clue about our own fate.
Well, the news remains mixed. The city reported the first new cases of Covid-19 this week. Six new cases were discovered in the Dongxihu District of the city. All six people live in the same apartment complex.
The discovery made the city decide to test all eleven million residents. Wuhan is now preparing for “10 days of battle” as each district must develop and submit plans to do a nucleic acid test for all of its residents within a 10-day period.
Wuhan hadn’t had any new cases since early April. The new outbreak worries many in the city that a new outbreak may be taking place. Residents spent 90 days holed up in apartments and have little appetite for returning to that life again. They will do whatever it takes to defeat the virus.
Non-Chinese residents face strict guidelines, as locals fear visitors from outside China will reintroduce the virus.
Teachers at Jianghan University where I worked still face draconian measures in fighting Covid-19. The regulations facing the staff include:
- Teachers may go outside on campus twice a day. Before going out a teacher must inform the school, take their temperature, and wear a mask. Many parts of the campus remain off-limits.
- Teachers can leave campus only once a week to shop, go to the bank, or perform other personal services. The teacher must obtain a digital certificate that is valid only on that date and will be taken back by the guard at the university gate when they return.
Restaurants had been only seating patrons outside but are slowly allowing inside seating as the weather heats up. Many shops remain closed.
I posted a question on WeChat, the Chinese social media giant, asking how things are going in Wuhan. I received 27 positive responses from Chinese friends, most saying the city is returning to normal. No surprise that all provide positive comments about the city. The government closely follows Internet chatter and disapproves of negative comments.
My Chinese friend, Qiong Zheng, returned to Wuhan last week. She spent four months in Shanghai after getting locked out of the city. She discovered the woman across the hall tested positive but is asymptomatic. Unfortunately, the neighbor’s husband died three months ago from Covid-19. Welcome home.
This report comes from a city where residents stayed in their apartments for three months, unlike most American cities, and didn’t have a new case in six weeks. Wuhan still faces an uphill struggle.
The world needs to prepare for a protracted fight where hotspots spring-up out of nowhere, whether in the Dongxihu District or the White House.
No American wants to return to normal more than me. I’ve been in lock-down mode since January 20. But wishing the virus away or thinking you’re invulnerable sets up future failure.
I was at a grocery store waiting in line last week. The man in front of me had no mask. The checkout clerk, a chatty woman, asked him “Where’s your mask?”
He replied “I’m strong. I don’t need it.”
You cannot deny a virus out of existence. Covid-19 kills strong people every day. The fight continues.
John McGory lives a quiet life in central Ohio as he waits out the Covid-19 pandemic.