Quarantine --- China Style

China claimed to have obtained controls over the outbreak as President Xi visited Wuhan two days ago. It was interpreted as a sign that the outbreak had reached a turning point, allegedly. Though many are skeptical saying the number of China’s new cases are abnormally low, most experts agree that China’s strict quarantine measures are effective in combating Covid-19. In reality, the only two means to combat an infectious disease are vaccines and quarantine. We are still very far from having a vaccine for Covid-19. Therefore, quarantine is the only viable solution. Perhaps the rest of the world should start planning the same.

The first city to be quarantined was of course Wuhan. Because it had never been done before, it was poorly planned. The news was announced 8 hours ahead of the lockdown, during which over 300,000 people fled the city instinctively. Later on, most of these people wanted to come back because they were unable to find or afford a long-term place to stay and many of them were discriminated in other parts of the country. People remained in Wuhan were in panic and chaos for the weeks to come. Footages of a ghost town were almost impossible to believe that this was China’s second biggest city. The lineups of people seeking for medical treatment were horrifying. When the quarantine camps were built to accommodate thousands of sick people, we saw videos of them being dragged out of their home by policemen. At the time, there were rumors that these people would never get out of it alive, or the condition of the camps was like a “concentration camp”. But after a week of improvement, people with mild symptoms actually wanted to go to the quarantine camps --- they were able to separate themselves from their healthy family members; the food were free and its quality and varieties were better than what others had at home; there were group therapies and exercise sessions scheduled each day; a library with books to borrow, a picture of a good-looking young man reading attentively went viral; another young man even found a girlfriend in there, they were hitched by his "father-in-law" who was his next bed neighbor; and best of all, no more chores. On the other hand, for people whose conditions were severe, they were admitted into the two new hospitals that have 2600 beds in total. These hospitals are staffed by military doctors and nurses. Eventually, Wuhan was able to put its population into three different zones: the health ones are at home, the mild cases are at camps and the severe ones are in hospitals. It took a great amount of effort and time to separate them. And of course, the plan was not “perfect”. Many healthy people who were confined in their home suffered a lot for not having enough food. Their mental health was also poor as they were constantly living in fears and uncertainties. However, it was what needed to be done to contain the outbreak. 

The second city under lockdown was Wenzhou. It had the most number of people coming from Wuhan. The quarantine was not pre-announced. People in Wenzhou are different from the rest of the country. They are known to be more united and loyal to their group. When the lockdown first happened, there was a riot attempting to break the barricades. I guess it’s a human nature to resist quarantines even though it also blocks sick people from entering their city. Shortly after that, 66 more cities were under lockdown. We were so worried at that time because my native city Fuzhou was among them. I called my cousins to find out how they cope. Surprisingly, they were calm and said that it was a precautionary measure. Everyone was asked to stay home. One family could only send one person to buy food. They were given 3 permits per week to leave the condo building. Some areas had a time limit on how soon they had to return. Temperatures were taken at the gatehouse and in front of the grocery store. If there was a confirmed case in the building, no one could leave at all. Their building managers were in charge of buying groceries in bulk and delivering them to their door. Everyone who is out in the public must wear mask at all time. If not, they would be disciplined. People are not allowed to even play Mahjong with their next door neighbors. They have to surrender one of the Mahjong cards so they don’t have a complete set to play with. The police department used drones to patrol the neighborhood. If they saw anyone socializing with others, or anyone without mask, they would make their warnings loud and clear through the drone’s speaker. Aside from grocery stores and pharmacies, no other businesses were allowed to open. 

There was a post on WeChat that justified and explained this strict quarantine measure to citizens in China. It went like this: People can be divided into four groups:

Group A: people who have contracted Covid-19

Group B: people who have been in close contact with a confirmed case, such as family members and friends.

Group C: people who have been in contact with a confirmed case but not knowing it.  

Group D: healthy people

People in A and B are already identified and they are under quarantine or treatment. The challenge is to identify people in Group C and prevent them from infecting Group D. Therefore, if everyone is under quarantine for at least 2 weeks, people in Group C who have contracted the virus will surface after the incubation period is over. They will then be placed under quarantine/treatment. This plain language concept was widely shared on social media to persuade people across the country to stick to the rules. 

Right now, China is planning to reopen everything, possibly including Wuhan. The economy will crush if people are still at home. Majority of them want to go back to work as they don’t have enough savings to last any longer. There are even speculations that the official numbers are fake because the government needs people to go back to work. This is a gamble for President Xi. Will the outbreak take another turn for the worse as people are gathering again? By this time, everyone in China is an expert on Covid-19. Hopefully, they will do better to protect themselves and their loved ones. One thing for sure, they will be wearing masks. 

Can China’s quarantine measures be used in other countries? Can people obey and submit to their government like people in Asian cultures do (or you can go ahead and say, people under the Communist Regime)? Is it really hard to pause everything and demand everyone to stay indoor for at least 14 days? Personally speaking, I don’t mind. I had a bad flu in January and I stayed at home for almost 2 weeks. And since the outbreak started, I have not seen my closest friends since New Year’s Eve. It’s not too hard when there is enough entertainment and food around. It’s not too hard when you don’t have a choice.