A Chinese state-run newspaper tried to crack down on Tuesday after thousands of partygoers appeared in a water park in Wuhan over the weekend, where the first coronavirus was first reported before breaking out around the world.
Seen by some as a slap in the face to the rest of the world, photos of the first epicenter of the coronavirus saw people packing up at Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park to attend an electronic music festival on Saturday. The UK Telegraph ran a front-page story about the viral images with the headline: “China’s Big Party: Life’s a beach in Wuhan as world pays virus price.”
Global Times, an English-language newspaper supported by the Chinese Communist Party, slammed critics as “sour grapes” and praised Wuhan’s tougher measures and testing of its nearly 11 million residents, saying the massive pool party was “payback”.
WUHAN WATERPARK HOSTS MASSIVE POOL PARTY IN CORONAVIRUS GROUND ZERO
While China is constantly trying to take responsibility for the pandemic, Global Times published a story on Tuesday entitled “Wuhan’s after-pandemic pool party sends a message to the world: strict anti-virus measures have a return.”
This photo taken on August 15, 2020 shows people watching a performance as they cool off in a swimming pool in Wuhan in the central Hubei province of China. (Photo by STR / AFP via Getty Images)
‘Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 was first reported and the one hardest hit by the virus, is now welcoming an influx of tourists, and its economy is reviving, some locals felt that they should not only be seen as a sign of the city returning to normalcy, but also a reminder to countries struggling with the virus that strict preventive measures have a payoff, ‘the story reads.
The viral photos of the water park were first circulated by the Agence France-Presse, and social media users around the world soon sounded the alarm. They stood in stark contrast to images of empty streets and public transportation closed when Wuhan was effectively shut off from the rest of the world earlier this year.
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A 76-day lockdown was lifted in April. Doubts remain about coronavirus figures reported by the Chinese government, but Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, claims they have not transferred any new cases since mid-May.
The story also claimed that the park took measures to protect the safety of visitors and staff – such as temperature tests and disinfection – and limited the number of occupants to half of the pre-pandemic period.
A owner of a taxi company in Wuhan, Zhang Yong, told the Times he found it amusing that “foreigners are making a fuss about our pool party.” He said he welcomed an influx of tourists into the city after he nearly went bankrupt when it closed.
“I think it also sounds like a bell to some countries, which are still struggling to fight COVID-19, that without strict measures, the virus will not be infected. We have fought hard, this is our return,” he said. hy.
Meanwhile, nearly 22.5 million cases have been documented worldwide, and more than 788,000 people have died from complications associated with COVID-19. Thousands of new cases are being recorded in the US one day, in part due to increased test capacity.
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Accused of a coronavirus cover-up, China has been repeatedly accused by the U.S. Department of State of failing to provide critical information about the virus at the time, leaving the rest of the world ill-prepared for an outbreak that the rapid pandemic reaches level. The DOJ has also documented efforts made by the Chinese government to spread false information online that falsely claims that the virus originated in Italy as well as the United States.
