As the rest of the world is struggling to cope with nCoV, China says it has turned around.

After a period of postponement of the deal and then taking drastic measures such as blockade of the city, China declared that it had "essentially contained the epidemic". China on 13/3 only recorded 8 new cases, the lowest increase since the country began to publish data from January 20. Mainland China recorded 80,813 nCoV infections, 3,176 deaths and more than 64,000 people recovered.

Chinese anti-epidemic start-up delay. From December 8, 2019, a number of traders and people working at the Hoa Nam Seafood Market, which also sells wildlife, have begun to be hospitalized with symptoms of nCoV infection. The hypothesis favored by many scientists is that the nCoV originates from bats, which have spread to wildlife sold in markets and transmitted to humans.

On December 31, 2019, Wuhan health authorities reported 27 cases related to this market and reported it to WHO. Wuhan authorities closed the sterilization market on January 1. They said the virus was stopped at the outbreak, the risk was limited, there was no evidence that the virus was transmitted from person to person.

On 1 January, 8 people were reprimanded for "spreading false rumors" about the disease when it was unknown. One of them is Li Wen Liang, 34, an ophthalmologist at the Wuhan Center Hospital. He is concerned that SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which began in China in 2002, may have returned after seeing seven people hospitalized with mysterious pneumonia.

The number of cases of Wuhan increased to 44 on January 3, health agencies in Hong Kong and Singapore recommended travel. China declared the existence of a "new strain of corona virus" on 9/1 and recorded the first death two days later.

During January 5-17, China did not report new cases, while Japan and Thailand detected their first positive case.

During this period, Wuhan City and Hubei Province still held People's Council meetings. When Wuhan mayor Chu Tien Vuong read his annual report to the council on January 7, he did not mention the outbreak.

Doctors, meanwhile, were ordered to remain silent about nCoV and evidence that the virus spreads from person to person, according to Nghe Phan, one of the early warning doctors about nCoV.

The banquet with the participation of 40,000 families organized by Wuhan government to break the Guinness record still takes place on January 18. On the same day, Beijing sent a team of experts to Wuhan to investigate.

On January 20, top Chinese expert confirmed that nCoV is spread from person to person. On the same day, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued his first statement on Covid-19 with brief instructions, "giving all efforts" to the epidemic.

This day marks a major turning point in the fight against epidemics, when 291 cases have been recorded throughout mainland China. Authorities began to take drastic action. Panic enveloped Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, when it was blockaded on January 23. The rest of Hubei Province was later put under control.

Hospitals in Wuhan are in short supply and lack of supplies. Many people with untreated loved ones promptly tell pitiful stories on social networks. In order to reduce the burden on health facilities, China quickly built two fire hospitals, Hoa Than Son and Loi Than Son, and converted facilities such as gymnasiums and exhibition centers into 16 field hospitals. Other and requisition of hotels, university halls as isolation centers.

Hundreds of millions of people traveled back and forth on the occasion of the Chinese New Year holiday before travel restrictions were imposed. The virus spread to 31 provinces in China and other countries. On January 30, WHO declared a global emergency medical condition.

From 1 to 7/2, the number of infections in China soared from 11,791 to 31,161, 636 deaths. On 7/2, Doctor Ly Van Luong died of nCoV, causing a wave of grief and anger.

A few days later, four senior local officials were dismissed to appease public opinion, including Wuhan Party Committee Secretary and Hubei Provincial Party Committee Secretary. Hubei on February 13 recorded a great leap, increasing 14,840 cases in just one day due to changing statistical criteria. The change was reversed a week later, raising questions about the reliability of published Chinese data.

Up to this point, Xi has rarely appeared. International media judged his role in the fight against the epidemic quite faint. On February 15, however, Beijing published an internal speech of Xi during a meeting with party officials. He said he asked officials to concentrate on anti-nCoV on January 7, two weeks before he made a public statement about the epidemic.

Experts say this is a rare move from Chinese leaders. "It seems that he is defending himself, explaining that he has done everything in his power to lead the epidemic prevention," said political analyst Wu Qiang in Beijing.

In late February and early March, the number of new infections in Hubei and other parts of China decreased while the outbreak occurred in Italy, Iran and South Korea. WHO on March 11 declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Epidemic appears in more than 130 countries and territories, causing more than 130,000 people infected, more than 5,000 people die and more than 70,000 people recover.

In late February, a delegation of 13 foreign experts and 12 Chinese scientists arranged by the WHO published the report, pointing out measures to help China turn the tide.

The harshest and most controversial measure is the blockade of dozens of localities. Some people doubt the necessity of this measure, especially in places far from Hubei and there are few cases, as well as concerns about people's freedom. More than 780 million people, or more than half of China's population, are restricted in many ways. However, the WHO mission report assesses them as "effective in preventing cases of infection from moving to other parts of the country".

Many other tough social quarantine measures have also been implemented across the country, including canceling sporting events, closing crowded gatherings, and extending students' Lunar New Year holidays. . Many businesses are closed or remote. Anyone going out must wear a mask.

Wuhan officials say the blockade of all residential areas since February 11 is an important measure to curb the spread, but some experts believe it leads to more cross-contamination among households. .

Despite evaluating these measures as "effective", the WHO report also acknowledges "the consequence is that the lives of people are extremely constrained", making the public angry with the authorities. When Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chun Lan inspected Wuhan on March 5, people screamed through the windows: "Liars!".

The question is whether the world can learn from China, or if other countries adopt large-scale blockade and electronic surveillance like China, will they be equally effective. or not.

Adam Kamradt-Scott, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, a global health security expert, said that governments should try to stop the spread, but the measures should be tailored to the nature of the outbreak. . "There are so many options, you can take very strong measures and stop infection quickly, but it also has serious economic consequences," he said.

"Governments can learn from China 's solution, but these measures also raise concerns about human rights. Countries have different perspectives on this issue," he added.

Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist leading the WHO delegation, judged the biggest lesson from China was the processing speed. "The faster you detect, quarantine and capture the patient's contact history, the more successful the prevention will be. China has proven that despite the serious infection situation, if calmly calm systematically search and track sleeves, you can definitely change the landscape, "he said.

After the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, more than 42,000 health workers across China were mobilized to Hubei Province. The health situation of the people is closely monitored. Electronic monitoring systems are deployed.

According to Aylward, in order to speed up the response to diseases, the government needs to provide sufficient information to the people, while ensuring the health system operates quickly, focusing on investigating the history of contact with the community. contract of cases and well implemented monitoring. "90% of China's response is like that," he said.

On March 10, Xi first visited Wuhan since the outbreak, spreading the message that China had "won" Covid-19. The National Health Commission of China announced on March 12 that the country had passed the epidemic peak.

"Now things have improved and he wants to show that his leadership has been successful," said Minxin Pei, a professor of Chinese politics at Claremont McKenna University in California, USA. "The message is that let us now look at how the West is awkward and incompetent."

International experts say China could have controlled Covid-19 more easily and quickly, preventing it from spilling out if officials promptly responded in early January, when the number of cases in Wuhan increased, instead of delaying 7 weeks and then storming the city in a month-end storm, when the disease showed signs of losing control.

However, Chinese state-run media are telling a completely different story. They praised Xi as "the leader of the people" for leading an "all-people war" to repel the epidemic, while turning health workers on the front lines into national heroes.

The Chinese propaganda apparatus in recent days has been frantic, emphasizing that the number of domestic infections is decreasing, in contrast to the rapidly increasing number of cases in other countries. "They are trying to spread positive stories about the state's efforts to handle the situation as well as the Chinese Communist Party."

However, when the "wind changes direction", China is faced with the new concern of "reverse importing" cases from abroad. As of March 11, 85 people from abroad entering China were positive for nCoV. Beijing on 11/3 ruled all foreigners to the city will be isolated 14 days. Earlier, Guangdong and Shanghai ruled that all people from severely affected countries must be isolated for 14 days.

"The number of imported infections is likely to increase," said Hitoshi Oshitani, a professor of virology at Tohoku University of Medicine in Japan Toh.

"They clearly had control of Covid-19. However, the situation is now like putting out wild fires, possibly not extinguishing completely. The epidemic may flare up again," said Mike Osterholm, an expert at the University. Minnesota, USA, said.