China enters annual chunyun time with coronavirus lessons
▶ ‘ Nightmare of last Spring Festival, city lockdown won’t happen again’
China’s national rail operator issued a notification of ticket pre- sales for the 40- day 2021 Spring Festival travel period, known as chunyun, on Tuesday. For the Chinese people, who spent an unforgettable Spring Festival this year due to the COVID- 19 outbreak, this means they are now officially entering the most important annual holiday season. This time, they are fully prepared for the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush, the world’s largest migration, despite the outbreak of sporadic new cases in several cities in China.
For many, what was missed in the 2020 Spring Festival could be compensated for as the country has successfully contained the virus spread, making family reunions and gathering of friends possible in 2021. There were hard lessons to be learned during one year of fighting the coronavirus, which changed the public’s hygiene habit and mindset, even reshaped the Chinese people’s collective memory.
China has accumulated abundant knowledge about the virus and has enacted anti- epidemic measures... so the nightmare of last Spring Festival and city lockdown won’t happen again.
China is now prepared to safely deliver 407 million passenger trips during the 2021 Spring Festival travel rush from January 28 to March 8 with 10.18 million daily passenger trips, according to the national rail operator.
The upcoming chunyun starts 18 days later than the Spring Festival travel rush in 2020, which began on January 10. The overall travel rush period for 2020 recorded 440 million passenger trips with 11 million daily passenger trips.
Ahead of chunyun and days before the New Year’s holiday, the Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) issued some personal hygiene and public health guidelines including preventive measures against COVID- 19 epidemic, travel advice, mandatory mask- wearing on public transport and social distancing requirements.
It also included examples of dos and don’ts, such as avoiding contact with live poultry and not purchasing live poultry, or advising that it is safe to buy frozen products that have been cleared for sale.
These are measures which have become familiar to many ordinary people compared to early 2020, as this difficult year was a process of learning how to deal with the unknown virus, respecting science and facts, following professional advice and keeping morale high when confronting the common crisis.
What was learned?
“As we look back at this year’s fight against the virus, I would use the word ‘ flaw’ to describe how we have responded to the epidemic, rather than the word ‘ lesson,’” Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Locking down Wuhan on January 23, 13 days after the 2020 Spring Festival travel rush begun, was a very swift and determined decision to make, at a time when there was scant knowledge about the virus. Even though millions had already left Wuhan for other Chinese cities prior to the lockdown, the decision prevented more people getting out of the city and helped prevent the virus from spreading more widely, Wang said.
During which, science should be respected and truth should be sought from the facts and investigations, he said.
Wang noted that as a new disease, it took time to understand and study it. During the process, science should be respected and truth should be sought from evidence and investigations, he said.
“Now, everyone wears masks,” an employee who works at a local Wuhan hospital who preferred not to be identified told the Global Times on Tuesday.
About a year ago, when the first “unknown pneumonia case” emerged in the city, the employee said she even had difficulties in persuading her parents and relatives to wear masks in public places as they thought it was unnecessary.
As the winter is also the season when colds, flus and other respiratory illnesses are prevalent, medics in Wuhan are fully prepared for the upcoming holiday season and have been advised not to leave Wuhan in case of an emergency situation, the employee noted “It’s not because the situation is getting intense again [ because of sporadic cases], but not to be caught off guard,” she said.
Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital
Remain cautious, confident
Senior experts from the Chinese CDC including its chief epidemiologist Zeng Guang, believe that after one year of accumulated experience in dealing with COVID- 19, the likelihood of a repeat of the severe situation of early 2020 is low. But still, China needs to accelerate approval of the vaccination for emergency use and roll it out to cover high- risk groups as soon as possible, he said.
However, the nation has accumulated abundant knowledge about the virus and has enacted anti- epidemic measures that coordinate with the efforts of every one, Wang said, noting “the nightmare of last Spring Festival and city lockdown won’t happen again.”
But still, the Chinese expert warned of the risks of sporadic outbreaks. “A single spark can start a prairie fire. People should be encouraged to cancel unnecessary trips and reduce the chance of getting infected.”