The author is waiting at the Ningbo East Railway Station to return to Beijing on February 4 all dressed up with protective gear against the coronavirus.  

Chinese New Year is a special time of the year for Chinese people all over the world for time and eternity. Regardless of which description of Chinese New Year is looked up, it will always be described as the most festive, active, and spirited time of the whole year. Celebrations begin with spring cleaning, and range from pasting couplets on the front door of the house, Lunar New Year family reunion dinner, visiting family and friends to wishing them good luck and best wishes for new year to lighting firecrackers — you name the activity and it all involves much social interaction among family members and friends. But this year changed many of those traditions with the arrival of the novel coronavirus. This year’s Spring Festival will go down in history as one of the quietest festivals in history, not because people wanted that way, but because they decided to do what they could to ensure the safety and health of the local and global community — by staying at home.

The task of fighting to prevent and control epidemic is not new to China. Back in 2002-2003, the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) beginning in China’s southern province of Guangdong had influenced the whole country with a fatality rate of 9.6 percent. During that epidemic, a total of 8,098 SARS cases were reported worldwide, and it ended up claiming the lives of 774 patients, according to WHO.

The first time I came to China was in the summer of 2003 not long after the epidemic had passed. At the time it was hard to understand just what lengths the Chinese government and people went to bring the country of over 1.3 billion people back to normalcy again. The only remaining signs of the SARS at that time were the temperature screening checkpoints that passengers had to pass through before queuing up for customs. Listening to stories from friends of what they experienced during those difficult months, I could only sympathize with them having not experienced it myself. Despite that fact though, I, along with everyone else, was thankful that China had done what it could to successfully control and prevent the further spread of the SARS epidemic. This year, it was my turn to experience something similar to SARS — the novel coronavirus.

Personal Precautions

After news became public of the contagious virus in Wuhan in January, people in major cities like Beijing began to take precautions like wearing face masks. But the seriousness of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus soon became a reality with the daily news releases and updates from the National Health Commission. Within the first five days since the first major announcement of confirmed cases, the number of confirmed cases had already quadrupled from 291 cases in China on January 20 to 1,287 cases on January 24, the eve of Chinese New Year. Faced with the serious implications of a spreading epidemic, the Chinese government announced through all official channels that everyone should stay home as much as possible and not take part in any large gatherings and social activities, including class reunion parties, extended family reunion meals, visiting museums, crowded tourist destinations, or going holiday traveling.

From the day my wife and I arrived at her hometown Ningbo in southern China on the afternoon of Chinese New Year’s Eve until the day of February 4 we returned home to Beijing, we only went out of my in-law’s apartment about four times, twice to the local market to purchase food and twice to get some fresh air.

So, how do people live during such unique times?

Well, first you keep on living your daily life, just indoors. In addition to keeping up with the daily news releases on the spread of the coronavirus through various media avenues, you eat, exercise, watch television, stay in touch with friends through social media, and find other ways to enjoy your time inside.

Second, take the precautions advised by the National Health Commission which include:

        Washing hands often with soap before and after preparing food, eating meals, coming in contact with people, coughing and sneezing, putting on and taking off a face mask, etc.;

        Avoiding close contact with people who have already contracted the novel coronavirus;

        Avoiding going to places where there are any crowds of people;

        Wearing protective clothes when going outside which include wearing a suitable face mask, gloves, and eye protection;

        Maintaining good ventilation in rooms by opening windows some time during the day.

Third, for people who have traveled to other cities during the Chinese New Year, after returning home or to their city of residence or study, they should quarantine themselves at home for 14 days. Every day they should also update their school advisors or relevant department supervisors about their physical condition. After my wife and I returned to Beijing, we were asked to stay at home in self-quarantine for 14 days and advised by our local apartment management to minimize our trips to purchase groceries as much as possible. In addition to this, we have to report to our relevant administrative leaders at each of our respective work places each to let them know of our health conditions.

Each of these preventative measures is part of a whole interconnected network of efforts made by people in China to bring the novel coronavirus under control and prevent it from spreading further.

Effective Measures Nationwide

In addition to personal precautions that people can take, the government has also taken many serious measures to combat the spread and control the virus that directly affects the daily lives of the masses.

First, many local neighborhood Party branches actively improve people’s awareness of what they should do to protect themselves. A couple days into the Chinese New Year’s holiday, sitting next to the window of my in-law’s apartment, I could hear a vehicle driving around the neighborhood a couple of times a day playing a recording over a loud speaker instructing and imploring local residence to stay in-doors, wear face masks, wash hands, and so on.

Secondly, the majority of apartment complexes, villages, and towns in order to reduce the possibility of potentially infected visitors from the outside infecting local residents, station workers at the main entrances to take the temperatures and identity of people going and coming from the apartment complex area.

Thirdly, at the usual toll stations at the entrance to highways and general checkpoints between city suburbs and main towns, teams of police and health workers stand on duty to take the temperatures of each person in each vehicle, and ask the ominous question, “Have you traveled near Wuhan or Hubei Province in the last few days?” While traveling to the train station when returning to Beijing after the holiday, I waited for over 40 minutes at two different checkpoints during which the temperatures of each person in our taxi were taken and identities were recorded.

Fourth, all sources of public transportation such as subways, buses, and taxis require people to wear masks in order to enter. Some cities even where the number of confirmed cases is not as high as Wuhan have also decided to close down major means of transportation like the subway and buses for a spell.

These are just some of the major measures that directly affect the daily lives of people and help reduce the spread of the virus. Overall, the majority of people are optimistic as they work together to control the spread of the virus. This kind of life is inconvenient for everyone, but at the same no one wants to see the number of confirmed patients with the coronavirus or death toll arising from it increase. As a result, we are willing to live this way during this period of time.

Now Is the Time to Cooperate More and Criticize Less

When outbursts of epidemics occur, it is not the time for people ask the question, “Where did it emerge from” or “Who is responsible for it?” Over the last century, many unfortunate viruses have emerged and caused devastating and fatal outcomes, including the Spanish Flu of 1918 which began in Europe and spread to the Americas, SARS of 2002-2003 in Guangdong, China, and Ebola which first appeared in South Sudan in 1976 and then again in West Africa in 2014. In times like these, perhaps the question is not what one country can do or cannot do by itself, but rather what the global community can do by coming together to support each other with resources, expertise, and needed materials to bring an end to the fight against the novel coronavirus.

I believe the coronavirus can be controlled, but not by the efforts of one country. It will be contained by the collaborative efforts of the global community.