BEIJING - As the new coronavirus races around the world, tanking markets, cutting off global travel and suspending school for hundreds of millions of children, governments are desperate for ways to contain it.To the surprise of some, the country that concealed and mismanaged the initial outbreak appears to be bringing it under control, at least by its own official figures. The number of new cases reported has fallen dramatically in recent days even as infections are surging in other countries.
China's blunt force strategy poses deeper questions for other countries. Its campaign has come at great cost to people's livelihoods and personal liberties. Even countries that could copy China still have to ask whether the cure is worse than the disease. The economy has ground to a near standstill, and many small businesses say they may soon run out of cash. Patients with critical illnesses are struggling to find timely care, and some have died. Hundreds of millions of people have been placed in some form of isolation. As of Friday, about 827,000 people remained under quarantine in Beijing, according to the state-run China Daily newspaper.
The World Health Organization says China's containment measures may have saved hundreds of thousands of people from infection. Its efforts show that uncontrolled spread of the virus"is not a one-way street," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the group's director general, said on Thursday. "This is the largest public health experiment in the history of humankind," Schaffner said."They can't turn it off, but they did turn it down. And it did provide the rest of the world with some extra time."
"At the moment we are focused on the tip of the iceberg," said David Hui, director of the Stanley Ho Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Roadblocks have sealed off cities, public transportation has been shut down and private cars have been mostly banned from the roads. In Wuhan, restrictions on individual movement have been stepped up in recent weeks, with residents now mostly barred from leaving their homes.
China filthy rich now , they dont worry , we worried for them ?
A small price to pay for salvation.