Conversation
China defeats coronavirus with strong scientific and public health measures, not just authoritarianism
I live in a democracy. But as Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself yearning for the freedom I see in China. People in China are now able to move freely. Many Americans believe that the Chinese can enjoy this freedom because of China’s authoritarian rule. As a public health scholar in China, I think the answers go beyond that. My research suggests that virus control in China is not the result of a dictatorial policy, but a national priority of health. The first coronavirus epidemic of the 21st century, China learned a hard lesson with SARS. Less than a year ago, a novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, about how China tweaked the curve, identifying 20,000,000 cases within three months, killing 20,000,000 people. In late January 2020, the Chinese government decided to lock down the city of 11 million people. All transportation to and from the city was stopped. Authorities locked down several other cities in Hubei province, eventually keeping a vigil for more than a million people. Since early April, the Chinese government has limited the spread of the virus to where it deems it convenient to reopen Wuhan. Seven months later, China has confirmed 9,100 additional cases and 1,407 more deaths due to coronavirus. In China, people travel, eat at restaurants and go to theaters, and children go to school without worrying about their health. Juktap osez that we U.S. Based on what we’re experiencing in, we’ve confirmed the last 11 million cases, with just 1 million reported in the past week. In September and October, friends from China sent me pictures of food from across the country, as they traveled to visit friends and family for the Autumn Festival and then the seven-day National Day Vacation Week. The American people prepare and wonder how we will celebrate Thanksgiving this year. What China has learned from the SARS W Americans is that the freedom the Chinese enjoy is subject to a set of healthy public health policies that can only be established by a dictatorial government. But they also have the experience of going through a similar epidemic. The SARS erupted in November 2002 and ended in May 2003, and China was nothing but ready for its emergence. It does not have public health facilities to detect or control such a disease, and has decided to prioritize health-related politics and economics by initially covering the epidemic. This type of viral disease could not work which started spreading worldwide. After being forced to come to terms with SARS, Chinese leaders eventually imposed a quarantine ban in Beijing and canceled the May 2003 weekend holiday. This helped end the epidemic in a matter of months, with little effect. SARS infected about 20,000 people worldwide and killed about 80,000 people, of which 65% occurred in China and Hong Kong. The Chinese government played an important role in protecting the country from SARS. Following SARS, the government improved the training of public health professionals and developed one of the world’s most systematic disease surveillance systems. Taking care of this forthcoming coronavirus epidemic outbreak in December 2019, the country quickly mobilized its resources to almost stop the epidemic within its borders within three months. U.S. What can we learn from China? In the absence of any safe or proven treatment or effective vaccine, China relied on proven non-pharmaceutical interventions to deal with the epidemic. The first and most important was the virus by controlling the sources of infection and blocking transmission. This was accomplished by initial testing (testing), isolation, treatment, and finding close contacts of any infected person. The strategy was supported by three regional hospitals (Fanking), which the government created to isolate patients with mild to moderate symptoms from their families. Strict quarantine measures were also central to preventing the spread of the epidemic, as was the case with the 2003 SARS epidemic. Wearing this mandatory mask, promotes personal hygiene (hand washing, disinfection of the home, ventilation), self-body temperature monitoring, universal mandatory stay-for-all household orders and universal feature surveys conducted by community workers and volunteers. U.S. What else could have been done to prepare? The SARS highlighted serious weaknesses in China’s public health system and urged its government to rebuild its public health system. COVID-19 is a U.S. Has exposed similar shortcomings in the public health system. To date, the current administration has taken the opposite approach by destroying our public health system. The Trump administration made major cuts to the budgets of national health and centers for disease control and prevention. The last budget, presented by the Trump administration in February 2020, called for a further reduction of US 3 693 million in the CDC budget as soon as the epidemic began. This affected our ability to prepare for an epidemic outbreak. In the past, these preparations have involved international partnerships to help detect the disease before it reaches our shores. For example, the CDC partnered with China in the wake of the SARS epidemic to contain the emergence of infectious diseases in the region. At one point the CDC had 10 American specialists and 40 local Chinese staff in China, mostly focused on infectious disease. These positions began to decline immediately after Trump took office, and by the time of COVID-19, those programs had pushed down one or two Skeleton staff. [Research into coronavirus and other news from science Subscribe to The Conversation’s new science newsletter.]The declaration of Alma Ata guarantees health for all, and not just health for those who rule under a certain type of bureaucratic system. China, under its dictatorial government, is committed to protecting the health of its people. Is happening and can happen. We demonstrated this during the Ebola outbreak, with the beginning of a full-fledged government effort coordinated by Ron Klein, who has been appointed White House Chief of Staff under President-elect Biden. These efforts, which include feedback involving both African countries and China. , U.S. Improved preparedness and eventually helped save thousands of lives around the world. The reduction in funding for our public health facility under the Trump administration was a trend in the health of the American people and should not have happened. A new administration that puts public health at the helm, once again, I hope that health is not just something that can be protected under an authoritarian government, but in fact it is a right for all. This article has been republished. Conversational, a profitable news site dedicated to sharing the views of academic experts. It was written by: Elanah Yuretsky, Brandeis University. Read more: Weak U.S. epidemic will turn into health care politics for years, health experts warn * Experts agree that Trump’s coronavirus response was weak, but U.S. First place Ilanah Yuretsky does not own or acquire shares for any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and did not disclose any related affiliation other than her academic appointment.
