By: Azhar Azam
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-03-06/The-world-needs-China-to-get-fully-back-to-work-ODeK8bPOM0/index.html
Coronavirus epidemic, which killed more than 3,000 people, infected over 90,000 and reached 64 countries of the world, mostly in China’s city of Wuhan, is being hit hard by the Chinese authorities that is gradually taking a predominant control on the flu-like virus. Other than Hubei, the mortality rate of the virus is mostly below 1% with some seven provinces and regions had not reported a single patient.
The closure news of the first of the 16 specially built hospitals – following a sharp fall in the new cases in Chinese Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, the one at the center of the disease – established that China was finally winning its well-fought battle against Covid-19. Bold decision was taken after the hospital discharged its last recovered patients.
As China takes a dig at the pneumonia outbreak, there has been a widespread criticism, especially in the United States, about Chinese violation of the human rights through the implementation of mandatory 14-day quarantine, roadblocks, checkpoints and some lockdown gauges wrought as “cordon sanitaire.”
But with the confirmation from the World Health Organization (WHO) and even by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that people can catch infection from others – the vilification lost its legitimacy and proved that China, through such preventive measures protected health, lives and human rights of other millions of people who were at the risk of falling victim to the disease.
Denigration lacked the wit with also because the restrictions are of course temporary and will be lifted once normalcy prevails in the country. In addition, the curbs should worry China more than the outsiders since the coronavirus has suspended its economic activities and disrupted the routine life of ordinary Chinese people.
In actual fact, China isn’t the only country that quarantined people to prevent the outbreak to inflate. During 2003 SARS outbreak, Canada too practiced “community quarantine” that successfully reduced transmission of the disease to one-third. The US, Taiwan and Singapore had also used to isolate or quarantine the people at homes and hospitals with suspected or probable SARS.
After Ebola went out of control in 2014, West African nations agreed to impose a cross-border isolation zone, “cordon sanitaire”, after WHO warned the outbreak could cause “catastrophic” loss of life and serve economic disruption if it continued to spread. CDC again found that the separation of sick persons and comprehensive contact tracing were the essential components of Ebola response in Liberia.
The claims of gaining effective control on the epidemic by China are backed with the authorization of international health organization. In its report, the WHO suggested the world to follow China’s lead where upon detection of a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology in Wuhan, it launched the national emergency response.
Explaining the declining Covid-19 cases in China, WHO assistant director and veteran epidemiologist Bruce Aylward subbed the western denunciation saying that the measures China took to fight the outbreak were all common to prevent the spread of disease. He also came down on the lockdowns – to decry human rights violations – and revealed that only people in Wuhan and two or three other cities were confined and lauded Chinese efforts to protect its country and rest of the world.
The comments coincide with agency’s Chief Tedros Adhanom remarks that almost eight times as many cases were reported outside China as inside in the previous 24 hours. So as of now, the world needs China more, over its rigorous knowledge and experience of combatting Covid-19, than Beijing would look toward global nations to force back the epidemic.
It is bluntly clear that China had no intentions to limit the human rights of its people; indeed it shielded humans themselves from fatal consequences of illness. That is why, hopes for restoration of routine life and economic activities are ascending in the country as China witnesses a declining trend in new virus cases.
On Tuesday, Apple’s supplier Foxconn announced to resume the normal production in China by the end of March. While more than half of its workers had already restarted work in the country, the decision by the world #1 contract manufacturer, to start the full-fledge manufacturing in China, was an unprecedented belief in Chinese government to knockout the virus and revive its economy.
China acknowledges that the coronavirus outbreak had a “negative impact” on its economy. Nevertheless, Beijing is committed to bounce back with the assurance of revitalizing the economy and achieving its economic and social goals for 2020. Over the years, China has faced several such outbursts that threatened it economy and culture.
This time again, China asserts to emerge successfully on the back of its stronger resilience, enormous domestic consumption, world’s biggest market and solid foundation of economic and trade structure. In the past, China has recurrently demonstrated that it can do wonders after being hit down and there is no reason it can’t do it once more.
As China has its system primed for rapid detection and quick response and its 30 other provinces managed not just to avoid but to reverse the outbreak, it is about time that the people of China should oust the fear and come up with a stronger will to put China and the world on the path of development again.
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-03-06/The-world-needs-China-to-get-fully-back-to-work-ODeK8bPOM0/index.html
Coronavirus epidemic, which killed more than 3,000 people, infected over 90,000 and reached 64 countries of the world, mostly in China’s city of Wuhan, is being hit hard by the Chinese authorities that is gradually taking a predominant control on the flu-like virus. Other than Hubei, the mortality rate of the virus is mostly below 1% with some seven provinces and regions had not reported a single patient.
The closure news of the first of the 16 specially built hospitals – following a sharp fall in the new cases in Chinese Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, the one at the center of the disease – established that China was finally winning its well-fought battle against Covid-19. Bold decision was taken after the hospital discharged its last recovered patients.
As China takes a dig at the pneumonia outbreak, there has been a widespread criticism, especially in the United States, about Chinese violation of the human rights through the implementation of mandatory 14-day quarantine, roadblocks, checkpoints and some lockdown gauges wrought as “cordon sanitaire.”
But with the confirmation from the World Health Organization (WHO) and even by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that people can catch infection from others – the vilification lost its legitimacy and proved that China, through such preventive measures protected health, lives and human rights of other millions of people who were at the risk of falling victim to the disease.
Denigration lacked the wit with also because the restrictions are of course temporary and will be lifted once normalcy prevails in the country. In addition, the curbs should worry China more than the outsiders since the coronavirus has suspended its economic activities and disrupted the routine life of ordinary Chinese people.
In actual fact, China isn’t the only country that quarantined people to prevent the outbreak to inflate. During 2003 SARS outbreak, Canada too practiced “community quarantine” that successfully reduced transmission of the disease to one-third. The US, Taiwan and Singapore had also used to isolate or quarantine the people at homes and hospitals with suspected or probable SARS.
After Ebola went out of control in 2014, West African nations agreed to impose a cross-border isolation zone, “cordon sanitaire”, after WHO warned the outbreak could cause “catastrophic” loss of life and serve economic disruption if it continued to spread. CDC again found that the separation of sick persons and comprehensive contact tracing were the essential components of Ebola response in Liberia.
The claims of gaining effective control on the epidemic by China are backed with the authorization of international health organization. In its report, the WHO suggested the world to follow China’s lead where upon detection of a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology in Wuhan, it launched the national emergency response.
Explaining the declining Covid-19 cases in China, WHO assistant director and veteran epidemiologist Bruce Aylward subbed the western denunciation saying that the measures China took to fight the outbreak were all common to prevent the spread of disease. He also came down on the lockdowns – to decry human rights violations – and revealed that only people in Wuhan and two or three other cities were confined and lauded Chinese efforts to protect its country and rest of the world.
The comments coincide with agency’s Chief Tedros Adhanom remarks that almost eight times as many cases were reported outside China as inside in the previous 24 hours. So as of now, the world needs China more, over its rigorous knowledge and experience of combatting Covid-19, than Beijing would look toward global nations to force back the epidemic.
It is bluntly clear that China had no intentions to limit the human rights of its people; indeed it shielded humans themselves from fatal consequences of illness. That is why, hopes for restoration of routine life and economic activities are ascending in the country as China witnesses a declining trend in new virus cases.
On Tuesday, Apple’s supplier Foxconn announced to resume the normal production in China by the end of March. While more than half of its workers had already restarted work in the country, the decision by the world #1 contract manufacturer, to start the full-fledge manufacturing in China, was an unprecedented belief in Chinese government to knockout the virus and revive its economy.
China acknowledges that the coronavirus outbreak had a “negative impact” on its economy. Nevertheless, Beijing is committed to bounce back with the assurance of revitalizing the economy and achieving its economic and social goals for 2020. Over the years, China has faced several such outbursts that threatened it economy and culture.
This time again, China asserts to emerge successfully on the back of its stronger resilience, enormous domestic consumption, world’s biggest market and solid foundation of economic and trade structure. In the past, China has recurrently demonstrated that it can do wonders after being hit down and there is no reason it can’t do it once more.
As China has its system primed for rapid detection and quick response and its 30 other provinces managed not just to avoid but to reverse the outbreak, it is about time that the people of China should oust the fear and come up with a stronger will to put China and the world on the path of development again.