How China Deceived the World?! 中国怎么欺瞒世界了 I
"I read what seduces me, I write what perverts me. "
- Heather Cai -
---Amazon Book Cover by Chris Clark | 亚马逊出版书封面
---Mike Clark, Spring Festival of 2020 | 今年春节的麦克
Written by Mike Clark, this is a detailed account of what he knew and saw in Shenzhen during the lockdown of China. It will be posted every Monday 7am till the end.
感谢麦克·克拉克撰写和分享他就中国封城期间深圳疫情发生的所见所想。本栏目将于每周一早7点定时发布，直至结束。
---Chinese Swipe Left | 左滑中文---
Covid-19
How China Deceived the World
By Mike Clark
June 16th, 2020
新型冠状病毒
中国怎么欺瞒世界了
麦克·克拉克
2020.6.16
Special Thanks to Holly, Jane and the Gang at Shenzhen Daily
特别感谢Holly、Jane以及《深圳日报》的伙伴们
Covid-19: How China Deceived the World
I arrived back in China on the 15th of January, flying from Heathrow to Zhengzhou and then on to Shenzhen. I have rented a flat there since 2004, initially living in it for about four to six months of the year, but recently around ten months. The rest of the time I visit my family in England or go travelling. Chinese society suits me very well because they believe that old people can have had interesting experiences, whereas in England we are just boring old farts. I do not like the politics of either country – I am an Atlee child - but it intrudes less into my life in China.
新型冠状病毒：中国怎么欺瞒世界了
我1月15日回到中国，从伦敦希思罗经转郑州落地深圳。我从2004年开始在深圳租住公寓，一般会在这里住4-6个月，但最近差不多会住10个月。剩下的时间我会回伦敦探亲或者旅行。我非常适应中国的社会环境，因为他们相信老年人能有丰富精彩的生活，相比在英格兰，我们就只是无聊的老古董。虽然两国的政治我都不喜欢——我是个Atlee小孩——但在中国这种政治侵扰相对较少。
My Early Knowledge of the Virus
I was vaguely aware of the virus before returning, but Shenzhen is very far from Wuhan and the full horror stories had not yet started or at least not publicised. The first few days passed with me dealing with jetlag which has worsened since I turned seventy. The earliest reference to the virus came on the 20th of January when the Shenzhen Daily (SZDaily) reported that the first case of an infected person (just called cases hereafter) in Guangdong had been found in Shenzhen. It was of a man who had returned to Shenzhen from Wuhan with symptoms on the 3rd of January. He had visited a GP Doctor on the 4th and the doctor had recognised the symptoms after having already received two training sessions. He was sent to People’s Hospital No. 3 (PH3) on the 11th of January and diagnosed when tests became available on the 19th. That hospital had been cleared of other patients and was used as an isolation hospital for all cases found in Shenzhen. He had listed his known contacts and they were under observation.
It became clear later that Shenzhen, and most Chinese cities, had been preparing since late December – probably at the time that the WHO were informed of the outbreak.. One of the advantages of a Government system where there is little direct accountability to the public is that they do not have to explain the wasted money and effort if the preparation was not necessary. But if something does happen they are ready.
Still I was not worried. Shenzhen has a population somewhere between fifteen and twenty million, depending on who you ask, and was in the process of clearing out for the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) holiday. It is an immigrant city with people from all over China. It started from nothing in 1980 and became China’s first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) focusing mostly on high-tech industry now. If you have talent and energy then Shenzhen is one of the places to be. It has changed immensely since I arrived in 2003. Then for Spring Festival people go back to their hometown roots, and so at this time maybe fifteen million would be closer to reality. The movement is often called “the World’s largest human migration”. So I was looking at one case out of fifteen million – pretty good odds.
The next day the odds worsened. On the 21st the SZDaily reported an additional eight cases with the testing kits now being readily available. In addition, cases had been detected in South Korea, Japan and Thailand. The virus had been sequenced the previous week, whatever that means. Testing kits were being manufactured and distributed around the country. Shenzhen launched a prevention and control mechanism following the report of the cases. It started body temperature monitoring at the airport, ferry terminals, railway stations and bus stations and strengthened case screening. We got the familiar advice about washing hands, avoiding crowds, etc.
It is reported that President Xi Jinping ordered resolute efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. People took notice. Throughout the messages we received from central government, provincial government, city government and, later, our residential management were clear and consistent. After all, this government has taken China from the tatters of the Cultural Revolution to its current state since the elections of Thatcher and Reagan.
我对新冠病毒的最初认识
我刚回中国时，对病毒的认识很模糊，深圳离武汉很远，那些恐怖的故事还没有发生，至少没有公布。刚落地的几天，我还在艰难地调整时差，这对年上70岁的我来说尤其艰难。1月20日《深圳日报》发布1例在深圳发现的广东确诊病例，这是最早提及病毒的报道。该病例1月3日从武汉回到深圳，1月4日就诊，已经受过两次培训的医生很快诊断出该症状。1月11日，该病例转至第三人民医院，1月19日确诊。三院由此清理了其他病人，并转作深圳市的隔离医院。该病例的接触人员随即转入隔离观察。
接下来一切明了，深圳以及大部分中国城市从12月底——可能从WHO得知病毒爆发后——开始做准备。中国政府向来没有直接的责任义务对公众解释因非必要准备而浪费掉的金钱和精力，但这样的好处在于，一旦事情发生，他们已然一切就绪。
当时我仍然不担心。深圳有150-200万人口，当然这个数字取决于你问谁，而且当时正值春节，深圳开始“空城”。深圳是个移民城市，有来自全国各地的人口。1980年从无到有，成为中国第一个经济特区，如今已成为一个高新技术产业为主的城市。如果你才华出众且精力充沛，深圳绝对是你的不二之选。从我2003年来到这里开始，深圳发生了巨大的变化。正值春节之际，人们开始返乡潮，所以这时候150万人口更接近事实。春运又被称为“全世界最大的人口迁移”。所以当我看到150万人口中有1例确诊时，并没有当回事。
第二天情况开始恶化。1月21日，《深圳日报》报道了8例新增病例，那时候已经有了检疫试纸。而且，韩国、日本、泰国相继有了确诊病例。病毒前几周就开始潜伏，不管这意味着什么。试纸开始批量生产并分发到全国各地。在发布了确诊病例后，深圳随即启动了防控机制。机场、轮渡、火车站、公交车站开始监测体温，并加强了病例排查。我们获知耳熟能详的建议：勤洗手、避人群等。
据报道，习近平主席下达严控新冠病毒的指令，人们开始引起重视。中央政府、省政府、市政府贯彻指令，接着街道管理开始严格执行。毕竟，如今的政府是自撒切尔夫人和里根总统当选后，从文化大革命支离破碎中接手了中国。
On January 22nd the SZDaily reported:
“SHENZHEN’S health commission released yesterday a list of 49 hospitals that provide outpatient service for febrile patients, as the city gears up to contain the spread of the new pneumonia.
The hospitals will set up independent areas for febrile patients, where special pre-examination points and observation rooms are set up and medical staff are on duty 24 hours a day.
Febrile patients will be put in an isolated consultation room for diagnosis and treatment. Meanwhile, they will be required to undergo a routine blood test and a chest X-ray, and a pharyngeal swab specimen will be collected to test for common pathogens like flu. Once confirmed, the patients will be transferred to a designated hospital.”
I believe this also indicates that preparatory work had been done. I only read of one healthcare worker getting the disease, when an infected person went to the out-patients instead of the fever clinic. She recovered.
On the 23rd the SZDaily covered national news and Wuhan news. There were 585 confirmed cases of which 444 were in Hubei province, which includes Wuhan. The city had halted its public transport system to slow the spreading of the virus and strongly discouraged people from entering the city.. There had been a visit from WHO officials. Wuhan local government people had denied any human-to-human transmission earlier “without clear evidence”. However on the 20th, “At a news conference held by the National Health Commission, Zhong Nanshan, head of a high-level expert team, said that the latest evidence had proved the virus could spread between humans.”
This was the point at which the World should have known that there was something very nasty about and should start thinking about making plans. Even in China you do not seal off a city because people are catching colds there.
There was one other article entitled “Residents reminded of holiday health risks”. It warned against firework burns, gastroenteritis and a little bit at the bottom repeating the wash hands, wear a mask, etc.
And so to Spring Festival in the Year of the Virus.
1月22日，《深圳日报》报道：
深圳卫健委昨日发布49家设有发热门诊的医院清单，严控新冠疫情蔓延。
医院将对发热病人设置单独就诊区域，设置专门预检点和观察病房，医务人员24小时值班。
发热病人将在单独的就诊房间接受诊疗，同时，要求他们进行常规血液检查和胸部X光检查，并通过咽拭子检测常规病原体，例如流感。一旦确诊，病人将被转移到指定医院治疗。
我相信这也证明了政府确实做好了准备工作。我仅获悉有一名医务工作者感染，是由于感染患者在门诊就医，而非发热门诊。
1月23日，《深圳日报》发布了全国疫情新闻以及武汉方面的消息。当日新增585例确诊病例，其中444例在湖北省，包括武汉。武汉封锁了公共交通系统以切断病毒传染源，并强烈劝阻人们入汉。WHO官员也到达武汉。武汉当地政府早先因“未有明显证据”而否认有人传人感染。但在1月20日，“在国家卫健委新闻发布会上，高级专家组组长钟南山院士说，有最新证据表明，该病毒存在人传人感染。”
这个转折点，是全世界本应该知道事态的严重和棘手、并且应当开始思考制定计划的时候。要知道即便是在中国，也不会因为一个城市里的人感冒了而封城。
还有一篇题为“居民假期健康风险提示”的文章，提醒大家注意烟花燃放、胃肠炎等，在末尾再次提醒大家勤洗手、戴口罩等。
而新冠病毒之年的春节更要如此！
- To Be Continued 待续 -
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Heather is the daughter of a subsistence rice farmer from Fujian Province, China. She tells stories from her experience as one of the poorest. She writes her dream to share with the world, a very personal place. She has now written two English literary novels and is looking to being published in the UK. Her passion is a splendid cocktail or milkshake of word, image, music and art. She likes collecting books, DVDs, papers, stones, shells and leaves. She desires for all forms of natural beauty. She is currently working for Shanghai Taichi Center.
希瑟·蔡太莲是福建一个自给自足稻农的女儿。她作为穷人的穷人之一，讲述的故事来自最底层的仰望。她写就她的梦想与世界分享一些个人独特的亲身经历。她完成了两本英文文学小说，喜欢收集树叶、书本、影碟、贝壳和剪报，向往各种自然美。目前在上海从事太极文化行业，也在努力打造“阿太的密室”，集文学、艺术、文化、哲学和世界女性于一体的个人公共服务平台。
Copyright © 2019-2020 Heather Cai. All Rights Reserved. 所有版权归作者蔡太莲所有