I’ve now been in isolation for two months in China. It may surprise you to learn that I am not in Wuhan, or even Hubei Province, but Wuxi, a city in Jiangsu, over 700 Km away from the epicenter of the virus.
The impression created in the Western media is that by asking the residents of one city to self-isolate, China managed to bring the outbreak under control. It’s a dangerous misconception leading to a cavalier attitude and the false assumption that putting London in lockdown would somehow make things right. The truth is that China’s measures went far beyond anything imaginable in Western cultures and extended, at the worst of the epidemic, from Guangdong Province in the South to beyond Beijing in the North.
News of the virus made little impact outside of Hubei until shortly before Chinese New Year. The holiday is a time of mass migration when workers in the cities generally return to their hometowns to visit family. Faced with the prospect of millions of people moving around the country and potentially spreading the virus further, on January 23rd we went into official lockdown.
Initially we were told that the week-long New Year Holiday would be extended by a few days but as time passed and schools were closed indefinitely, we realized that we were in for the long haul. Today, two months later, some of the stricter controls here are starting to be relaxed but we are still in lockdown mode. Our business, a restaurant is still closed by order and this will not be reviewed until April 1st at the earliest. There is no confirmed date for schools reopening and movement is still highly restricted.
Overnight, the security guards at the gate of our complex were equipped with thermometers and our temperatures were taken each time we passed. Registering an elevated temperature carried a constant fear of being reported to the authorities and quarantined. We were fortunate in being allowed relatively unrestricted access to and from our home but for many of our friends, only one person per apartment was allowed out to buy supplies every two or three days. No deliveries were allowed into the complex and a makeshift collection point was set up at the gates. No visitors were allowed and social gatherings prohibited. All cars were stopped on roads and highways as police conducted detailed questioning about recent movements and checked temperatures. Long distance travel between provinces was either suspended or reduced.
The Chinese mobilized technology to establish highly sophisticated movement and contact tracing. There is almost universal usage of WeChat (social media) and AliPay (payment system) here so everyone was required to register and give a detailed description of their current location and recent travel history. Based on this we received a QR code and our estimated risk-level. We needed to scan this to gain access to a supermarket or public building. As a result, I have friends who received a knock on their doors and were taken into official quarantine for two weeks because someone on their incoming flight or in the supermarket at the same time had tested positive for the virus. A friend has just returned from Europe (a day before mandatory quarantine for returning European travellers was imposed) and is now in compulsory lockdown in her apartment. Movement is monitored by app; the complex management has electronically sealed her windows and doors. Trapped with 4 children and with her husband who had not travelled moving into a hotel to avoid quarantine, this is unbelievably hard to navigate in good spirits but she understands, as do we all, that it’s necessary. If it all sounds very 1984, that’s because it is! But ultimately this testing, contact tracing, and shutting down chains of transmission, is what stopped the virus from spreading.
In spite of this use of technology, one hangover from the early days of the Mao era is the habit of physically pasting notices and public announcements onto the doors of homes. As such we learned within hours of the lockdown that all weddings and funerals (or at least attendance at funerals) were to be cancelled, the wearing of protective masks was compulsory and that financial incentives would be offered to those who reported undocumented travellers from Hubei province. There has been much discussion about the efficiency of using surgical masks but one thing is for certain, the physical act of having to put on a mask, wearing it and seeing others do so, focuses the mind! It is impossible to “forget” that there is an epidemic. It never feels ok to drop your guard and as such, remembering to wash your hands thoroughly and use sanitizer and wipes becomes second nature. That small strip of surgical mask becomes a constant reminder of potential danger and the need to protect yourself and those around you.
Pharmacies were immediately prohibited from selling any pain/fever/symptom relief medication; the logic being that self-medication was detrimental to the public good and that anyone displaying symptoms should be under the care of the medical profession, allowing cases to be documented and all contacts traced. This caused us endless problems as our daughter is currently staying with us. She is an AS sufferer who came from the UK for the holidays and has since been trapped! As she is on a schedule of TNF inhibitors she is immune-compromised and as such is in a high-risk category. Flying (on the one or two routes still open) was too risky. Now that the danger is subsiding at this end, flying back into an uncertain situation in the UK seems equally challenging. We found extraordinary generosity from friends who shared what medical supplies they had. In Wuhan, HIV patients, who are often vilified and ostracized in society, willingly donated their meds to trial therapies in an act of selfless compassion that was truly humbling.
Regardless of politics or social conditioning, what we have witnessed from the Chinese people in the past two months has really been the best of humanity. There was some anxiety regarding sourcing of masks (and price gouging until the government announced penalties for anyone attempting to) but this was quite simply a result of over a billion people suddenly needing them! Other than that, we have been limited to using three small shops within walking distance but have never experienced shortages or lack of availability of the basics – even toilet paper! There has always been fresh fruit and veg – maybe not what we would like but enough to keep us healthy! Yes admittedly, it helps that I am in lockdown with a Michelin starred chef who can turn a lentil, a chickpea and a bean into a feast, but basically this was down to the Chinese people who acted responsibly and were satisfied with “enough” rather than stock-piling or hoarding. My social media contacts have been uplifting and informative and there has generally been a phenomenal spirit of community and pulling together as a society in the fight against the virus. The cynical would call this propaganda, and much of it was certainly State driven or sanctioned but on a personal level, it’s far better for mental health than the venomous pit of Facebook conspiracy theories and rumours.
Without doubt, the past two months have been devastating; the business that we have run for 12 years is decimated and will never recover. We’ve been isolated, cut off from the medical care that two of we three desperately need and our daughter has faced the uncertainty of being isolated here and anxious about her friends and boyfriend in the UK. Our present has been put on indefinite hold and our future looks increasingly uncertain but that’s what it took to bring this virus under control and save lives.
We rightly value the freedoms that Western democracies afford us and so many of the measures adopted in China will be impossible to implement. But if we cherish that freedom we also have to accept that it is a social contract and only functions if we individually and as a society contribute positively and act responsibly.
To those expressing anger, hatred or even violence against others, please think about what entire nations have endured to halt the spread of this virus and instead of negativity, be thankful.
To those downplaying the seriousness of this virus and posting on internet boards about their toddler really needing his play date, asking if the supermarket manager will realize they are a special case and allow them to buy six packs of dried pasta, or saying that their parents cannot do without seeing their grandchildren because they really love them, please define “love”. Is it tonight’s dinner or tomorrow’s visit, or is it about doing whatever it takes to keep our loved ones safe, no matter the personal cost.