China enters annual large migration time with coronavirus lesson

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China's national rail operator issued a notification of ticket pre-sales for the 40-day 2021 Spring Festival travel period, known as chunyun. 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, 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 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. 

However, it's not time to relax vigilance given the recent spikes in new cases in cities like Beijing and Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, especially when the sources of some cases are unknown, some leading Chinese epidemiologists warned. 

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, but not to be caught off guard.  

The Chinese CDC also suggested that personnel from medium and high-risk areas should avoid travel during the upcoming holiday season and those from low-risk areas should not to travel to medium and high-risk areas. In Beijing where new cases have been reported, all districts, departments and companies have been required to enter a "state of emergency" to adopt a more resolute attitude and stringent measures to curb the virus spared. 

The majority of migrant workers in major urban areas usually return home for an extended period during the Spring Festival. Many were not able to see their families in 2020, as Spring Festival was peak period for virus transmission.  

However, given the latest advice from the Chinese CDC, some said they would look at the guidelines carefully before deciding to book tickets for Spring Festival, as there are risks of long-distance travel. Some said they may not return to their hometowns just in case.  

As long as people maintain the current anti-epidemic measures which have proven effective over the past year, China will be safe. People can be reassured of a happy holiday. 

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."

Source:globaltimes

Editor: Crystal H

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