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But 25 days before Wuhan was closed, there was a first warning of a strange infectious disease spreading in the city, and its causes are unknown.
Official Chinese history says that Beijing faced the Corona virus with staggering strength, but sparked a political crisis that allowed a local virus outbreak to trigger a global pandemic.
In the details, the New York Times says that China’s most famous doctor was on an urgent mission, but was ordered to rush to Wuhan, the center of the country, to check on the strange new Corona virus.
Dr. Zhong Nanshan, 84, is seen as a hero who helped uncover the SARS epidemic 17 years ago.
On the night train, a doctor’s assistant photographed him with his eyes closed and lost in thought, a picture that China will then explode, sparkle with Dr. Chung’s reputation and show him as the nation’s doctor.
China’s official history describes Dr. Chung’s trip as a cinematic turning point, in the eventual victorious war against COVID-19. This change begins when the doctor discovers that the virus is spreading dangerously and rushes to travel to Beijing to raise the alarm.
The New York Times says that Dr. Chung’s trip to Wuhan was more political than medical. “He already knew that the virus was spreading among the people.” His real goal was to convince the conservative Chinese regime to speak out about the crisis.
“There is definitely a person-to-person transmission. It reminded the public not to go to Wuhan except for special reasons, cut down on travel and avoid meetings,” Dr. Chung wrote, in a report he wrote on the train before arriving. to Wuhan.
Four days later, on January 23, Chinese leader Xi Jinping closed Wuhan.
This blockade was the critical first step in rescuing China. But for the rest of the world, it was too late to stop the spread of the virus and since then it has claimed more than 1.7 million lives.
According to the New York Times, the first warning that the virus actually exists was 25 days ago, that is, exactly one year ago, on December 30.
Even before that, Chinese doctors and scientists had been pushing for answers on what was happening, yet officials in Wuhan and Beijing had concealed the scale of the injuries or refused to take action on the warnings.
“China’s initial belated response unleashed the spread of the virus around the world and announced battles that would sweep across continents between scientists and political leaders over transparency, public health and the economy,” says the New York Times.
Chinese scientists and private labs identified the Corona virus and mapped its genes weeks before Beijing admits the severity of the problem. Scientists were talking to their peers, trying to warn, and in some cases they did, whatever the cost.
Professor Zhang Yongchen, a leading virologist in Shanghai, said: “We spoke about the truth. But no one listened to us, which is really tragic.”
As political animosities between China and the United States flared, scientists in both countries continued to rely on global networks that had been built for decades and sought to share information, and leading scientists realized early on that the virus could have been contagious among humans.
On January 8, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, George F. Gao, recognized this danger during a call with his American counterpart, Dr. Robert Ray Redfield, according to two people who saw the call from Redfield.
However, neither Dr. Redfield nor Dr. Gao, for political reasons, issued a public warning.
In Beijing, top health officials received sinister reports from doctors in Wuhan and sent two teams of experts to investigate. But they lacked the political clout to challenge Wuhan officials and did not speak publicly.
China finally took control of the virus and the narrative surrounding it. Today, the Chinese economy is full of life, while some experts question whether the epidemic has tipped the global balance of power in Beijing’s favor.
