7 ms·

Coronavirus Lockdown in Wuhan Is a 'Living Hell'

106 points by _bxg1 7y ago

golergka 7y ago
I already stocked up for and supplies, and was very interested in this article to know what else can lie ahead – but turns out, it's not really about living hell, but just a political piece about Chinese government. Now, I hate Chinese government just as much as any other libertarian whose family has survived a communist regime, but that's some very clickbaity title.
_bxg1 7y ago
Despite the title, the heart of the article is really about a Wuhan man's disenchantment with his authoritarian government, by way of the Coronavirus crisis
- whatshisface 7y ago
  It is not off the mark, if the CCP had been better about seeing the truth they could have eliminated the virus when only 100 people had it. Instead they suppressed news of it while doing nothing, all while the virus ran around getting the better of them. It is too bad for the CCP that the Chinese people are not the only things in China to control!
  - azurezyq 7y ago
    And now CDC is doing the exact same thing in US by not testing extensively, even though they are aware of community spreads. My friends in Seattle area are in great fear.
    - whatshisface 7y ago
      This is certainly a wakeup call for anyone who thinks that the US federal bureaucracy is immune to dumb authoritarian tactics. Hopefully this will put a damper on all of those armchair dictators who say things like, "the null policy is still a policy and deserves just as much skepticism." If hospitals had not been prevented by the FDA from using their own machines to run tests, the CDC testing shortage would not have mattered.
    - williw 7y ago
      CDC botched the first test kits. There was no way to test anyway. Fortunately, FDA approved state developed test kits.
      - davidw 7y ago
        It still seems like they're way behind in testing compared to, say, Italy, which for a while at least was testing sick people and everyone they had come into contact with.
      - whatshisface 7y ago
        No, hospitals had testing machines. They were banned from using them.
        backupcavalry 7y ago
        Not calling you a liar, but I haven't heard this part - got any citations?
        whatshisface 7y ago
        Former FDA director: (would have linked this originally but I wrote the above reply on the go) https://mobile.twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1224042220665307137 https://mobile.twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1224042220...
    - Leary 7y ago
      There were news that China's health authorities in Hubei and Beijing told local testing companies to return positive samples or destroy those samples during the crucial early days of the spread of the virus[1]. [1]https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/how-early-signs-of-the-coronavirus-were-spotted-spread-and-throttled-in-china https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/how-early-signs-... Political and censorship considerations aside, one possible reason for doing this could've been to ensure that the tests were all centralized and "valid" while preventing accidental leakage of the virus from local testing companies. Yet this kind of policy precisely prevented the virus from being quickly identified. The CDC's focus on the validity of the tests and its refusal to let local hospitals test for the virus mirrors this mistake. Even if the CDC did not actively try to suppress information, it is acting too slow.
  - other_herbert 7y ago
    There's also the potluck dinner with what sounds like all of the city... https://www.ibtimes.sg/focus-wuhan-potluck-dinner-cpc-fires-party-leader-hubei-amid-sharp-spike-deaths-39328 https://www.ibtimes.sg/focus-wuhan-potluck-dinner-cpc-fires-... (midway down the article) I think we may not have even heard about the virus if not for this Edit: relevant portion: Ill-advised potluck dinner helped spread the virus Another major perceived lapse of the Wuhan party authorities was their decision to let a large public feast go ahead in January despite the fact that there were clear signs that an epidemic was gathering pace. The local government had controversially allowed nearly 40,000 families to gather and share food as part of the Chinese New Year festival even as deaths from the virus were increasing. It later turned out that at least 10 cases of coronavirus infection were reported from among the participants of the feast on January 18, raising fears that the event must have accelerated the spread of the infection in Wuhan.
    - borkt 7y ago
      Hmm, kind of like SXSW planning to go ahead.
      - supernovae 7y ago
        I chuckled.. and I live here...
  - bakuninsbart 7y ago
    Honest question though: Which country would handle it better? A commenter below mentioned the US, but the reaction here in Germany has also been ridiculously slow and very lacking in both the political department as well as healthcare officials. An overwhelming majority of NHS medics doesn't think the UK is prepared either. [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/02/coronavirus-just-eight-out-of-1600-doctors-in-poll-say-nhs-is-ready https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/02/coronavirus-...) Our lower population densities and much higher hygene standards make it less likely for a breakout to start here, but our dealing with a pandemic is at least as frighteningly incompetent as the chinese response.
    - _bxg1 7y ago
      I think I read that South Korea is doing a great job, despite being hit hard
    - davidw 7y ago
      We probably won't know until a year or so. Europe at least will treat everyone, so you won't have people avoiding doctors/hospitals because they can't pay.
      - rvnx 7y ago
        It's not really like this in Europe, not sure what made you think all medical care was free ? There are many cases where you are left on the side of the road in Europe too. It's certainly better than in the US, but far from free for everyone.
        jacquesm 7y ago
        I don't know of a single case of someone going bankrupt here due to medical bils. Feel free to supply examples to the contrary, I'm quite interested in that.
        neilsense 7y ago
        It can vary country by country, as you'd imagine it would seeing as Europe is a large place, but it's so such a crazy notion to say that you'll most likely find some care in Europe if you're unwell and poor - definitely more so than in the US.
  - incompatible 7y ago
    Iran, South Korea, Italy didn't manage to stop it at 100 people either, even with advance warning.
  - carterehsmith 7y ago
    >> if the CCP had been better about seeing the truth they could have eliminated the virus when only 100 people had it Are there any "better" governments that eliminated e.g. cold or flu virus "when only 100 people had it"? I guess not. Cold and flu are common around the world. Hard to contain, and the containment would cause too much disruption and cost. So we learned to live with cold and flu.
  - Bendingo 7y ago
    > they could have eliminated the virus when only 100 people had it This is simply speculation and not credible. > while the virus ran around getting the better of them In 6 months time, most (or all) western countries will look back and wish they had handled the virus as well as China.
- the-pigeon 7y ago
  It just reads like an anti-Chinese propaganda piece. Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of Chinese people are very disenfranchised by their government. But a lot of them love it too. But western media always focuses on those that dislike it. Which is not a balanced perspective of their people.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - muglug 7y ago
    Given that putting your name to public criticism is a career-ending move in China, I think it's great that western media gives dissidents a voice.
  - unishark 7y ago
    I don't know that any country's media gives a balanced perspective of another country. They just cover the stories that are interesting enough to repeat in their own country. "most people are doing just fine over here" is generally not such a story.
  - socialdemocrat 7y ago
    It read like an authentic account from someone living there. Your response in contrast sounds like paid for propaganda in favor of the CCP. I read all sorts of descriptions of China. I would say in general the news is often too positive. Xi has increased dictatorial powers substantially. The internment of Ughuiyers is a massive human rights abuse they get little criticism for. Not to mention the relentless push to end any sliver of democracy and freedom in Hong Kong. Freedom in China is regressing under Xi and that is a serious cause for concern.
    - dang 7y ago
      > Your response in contrast sounds like paid for propaganda in favor of the CCP. That breaks the site guidelines. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and don't do this again. Also, please stop posting nationalistic flamebait to HN. We've already had to ask you this.
- borkt 7y ago
  Yeah, what is the point of a quarantine if they give you a warning and allow you to shop and leave the city? By very nature of his description it has worked as hoped.
  - socialdemocrat 7y ago
    Problem is you risk killing more people with the quarantine than due to the virus if it is too draconian. You need some flexibility to let people get food.
mosseater 7y ago
Of course it's hard living in Wuhan during this outbreak/pandemic. There are sacrifices to be made and they are the Wuhan residents. But this doesn't make China an evil authoritarian government mishandling the situation. China is doing the best it can to stop this outbreak where it stands. Yes that means quarantining the hot spot. Yes that means taking over dorms for room to quarantine people. Yes that means medical care at hospitals will be stretched extremely thin. But what is the alternative? Letting things run rampant because you didn't want to impose upon peoples human rights? The greater good of the whole population means more than the convenience of the Wuhan people. I just hope America falls in line. And yes, they didn't act immediately when they had patients in December. That could have been handled better. Hindsight is 20/20. But their mindset, about not wanting to start an unwarranted panic, about wanting to investigate things fully, is understandable.
- unishark 7y ago
  > But what is the alternative? Letting things run rampant because you didn't want to impose upon peoples human rights? Yes this is the alternative. We trade security, another form of it in this case, for freedom. I didn't think the author made a very good case for "living hell", or for that matter have a very good list of egregious things the govt did. But they made a good point at the end with "one day you may be the price that is paid". Anyway the US won't have to face the issue as China did because it will arrive everywhere if it gets bad, not one starting point that can be contained. And then all the govt here has to do is scare people enough with warnings of danger to lock things down pretty well. Fears of liability will do most of the rest when it comes to schools and other things shutting down.
  - bronipstid 7y ago
    Your alternative sounds an awful lot like what has been done in china by other means.
- read_article 7y ago
  It's obvious to me that you haven't read the article. You read the article title. Don't be so lazy.
williw 7y ago
Should probably fact check this before publishing, but the lockdown was rumored ahead of time on wechat. They didn't enforce it for like 8 hours. That's why there were lots of people who managed to flee Wuhan. That's a well-known fact.
- terrycody 7y ago
  Exactly, and I am shocked that today's journalism can publish what they want, regardless of the real truth, and from what I know, no one in wuhan "locked down" by government, they just can't go outside of the province, and this is a must in such an emergency, as for an unknown deadly virus, what can you expect then? We are sane human, first we need to be alive.
dirtyid 7y ago
Grass is greener on the other side when people are disgruntled. These stale China collapse because XYZ recent disaster always gets pushed by western MSM because it's easier to find dissenting voices during times of crisis and hysteria. Then shit hits the fan in comfortable democracies and people wonder why we can't build a triage hospital in 10 days. >Why were we notified about the city lockdown at 2 a.m. on the second to last morning before the Lunar New Year? ... >We tried every method to escape from Wuhan, but the cage was already locked. This is why. ... >But people are not thinking critically. They do not understand that if we had human rights, democracy and freedom, we would have learned about what happened in Wuhan one month earlier. And the first whistleblower would not have died for nothing. See Japanese response. CDC just removed testing statistics from their website. Now that initial hysteria has died down and the virus seemingly contained, Chinese social media is noticing the containment failures abroad from countries with ample warning and commenting that CPC central government might not be so incompetent after all. The WHO report from today is going to reinforce those notions.
- backupcavalry 7y ago
  I have a hard time believing China actually has it under control when they've already been caught fiddling with their number of infected / dead constantly. That, and WHO has been spending all of their time trying to avoid offending China.
  - dirtyid 7y ago
    China is opaque so you have to look at oblique indicators, in this case school has resumed. Kids going back to school indicates the leadership has some confidence that the party thinks the crisis is near the end. Even though kids are at low risk, after SiChuan earthquake school scandal, the political cost of risking children's health for political points is too high even for China. E: Also Xi visited Wuhan recently, and the annual two sessions meeting is happening in a few days while events are being cancelled around the world. It's the biggest annual political event. Xi is basically over if we get a bunch of infected kids or politicians like in Iran. I guess we'll see if it's confidence or calculus.
cameldrv 7y ago
Not a fan of authoritarian governments, and China's initial coverup of the virus is deplorable, BUT: 1. The reason they didn't pre-announce the quarantine was that it would defeat the purpose -- people would rush to leave ahead of the deadline. 2. Guy being kicked out of his college dorm: they had so many cases that they needed more space to isolate confirmed cases. They may have built a pre-fab hospital in a week, but that was nowhere near the capacity necessary. A college dorm is one of the better buildings if you need a building to turn into a makeshift hospital immediately. You've got a bunch of small individual rooms, kitchen facilities, and common areas that can be repurposed. The government determined that it was necessary to appropriate the building for the good of the city and did it. And look at where we are here in the U.S. We had a two month head start, and we still can't do widespread testing, the virus is spreading undetected. China was strongly criticized for providing unreliable numbers, and here we are, now the CDC has simply stopped providing state by state data on testing, and stopped providing a total count of tests done. It's truly shameful, and I pray for the health of people in this country, especially older people.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  I don't think the corruption and bureaucratic incompetency in today's United States lessens the story about that in China. At least we're allowed to talk about it.
  - c789a123 7y ago
    I think US gov has done quite well by cut air traffic with China after CCP announced that there is a plague going on around Jan 2x. But the problem is the plague has gone on at least 2 months in China until that time, so even North Korean which closed its border immediately after CCP announcement now has an outbreak. Before CCP made the announcement they suppressed info as much as possible and did nothing to control the spread. Until around the Jan 2x when it can not hide it anymore. Even after this, CCP still made WHO to lower the alert level of the world. Today's situation is the sole result of CCP's wrong doings and they should do a full accounting of it in the world court.
    - 7y ago
socialdemocrat 7y ago
A reminder to those who all to easily marvel at the “efficiency” of dictatorships
rdtwo 7y ago
Seattle is on track for its own “potluck. Comic con is in 2 weeks if it doesn’t get cancels it will disastrous for spreading sicknesses
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ailife 7y ago
This article is obviously biased or lacks understanding of the facts. If it is written by a Chinese, its purpose is only to complain about his own condition, but it does not help the current situation. Chinese people's efforts have earned time for the people of the world. If you want to condemn China, may I ask, which country in the G7 did not rely on colonization and became a developed country?
- bdhe 7y ago
  I'm sorry, but your response isn't constructive and suspicious given your phrasing and your having created an account specifically for this. While it IS one person's experience and no more, blind dismissal and talking about colonization is completely inappropriate.
  - ailife 7y ago
    Allow others to talk about "disenfranchised", but not "colonization", I don't understand why this is happening. In addition, I did not register for a hack news account before, so I just registered one, not because of this

106 points by _bxg1 7y ago

I already stocked up for and supplies, and was very interested in this article to know what else can lie ahead – but turns out, it's not really about living hell, but just a political piece about Chinese government. Now, I hate Chinese government just as much as any other libertarian whose family has survived a communist regime, but that's some very clickbaity title.

_bxg1 7y ago

Despite the title, the heart of the article is really about a Wuhan man's disenchantment with his authoritarian government, by way of the Coronavirus crisis

whatshisface 7y ago
It is not off the mark, if the CCP had been better about seeing the truth they could have eliminated the virus when only 100 people had it. Instead they suppressed news of it while doing nothing, all while the virus ran around getting the better of them. It is too bad for the CCP that the Chinese people are not the only things in China to control!
- azurezyq 7y ago
  And now CDC is doing the exact same thing in US by not testing extensively, even though they are aware of community spreads. My friends in Seattle area are in great fear.
  - whatshisface 7y ago
    This is certainly a wakeup call for anyone who thinks that the US federal bureaucracy is immune to dumb authoritarian tactics. Hopefully this will put a damper on all of those armchair dictators who say things like, "the null policy is still a policy and deserves just as much skepticism." If hospitals had not been prevented by the FDA from using their own machines to run tests, the CDC testing shortage would not have mattered.
  - williw 7y ago
    CDC botched the first test kits. There was no way to test anyway. Fortunately, FDA approved state developed test kits.
    - davidw 7y ago
      It still seems like they're way behind in testing compared to, say, Italy, which for a while at least was testing sick people and everyone they had come into contact with.
    - whatshisface 7y ago
      No, hospitals had testing machines. They were banned from using them.
      - backupcavalry 7y ago
        Not calling you a liar, but I haven't heard this part - got any citations?
        whatshisface 7y ago
        Former FDA director: (would have linked this originally but I wrote the above reply on the go) https://mobile.twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1224042220665307137 https://mobile.twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1224042220...
  - Leary 7y ago
    There were news that China's health authorities in Hubei and Beijing told local testing companies to return positive samples or destroy those samples during the crucial early days of the spread of the virus[1]. [1]https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/how-early-signs-of-the-coronavirus-were-spotted-spread-and-throttled-in-china https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/how-early-signs-... Political and censorship considerations aside, one possible reason for doing this could've been to ensure that the tests were all centralized and "valid" while preventing accidental leakage of the virus from local testing companies. Yet this kind of policy precisely prevented the virus from being quickly identified. The CDC's focus on the validity of the tests and its refusal to let local hospitals test for the virus mirrors this mistake. Even if the CDC did not actively try to suppress information, it is acting too slow.
- other_herbert 7y ago
  There's also the potluck dinner with what sounds like all of the city... https://www.ibtimes.sg/focus-wuhan-potluck-dinner-cpc-fires-party-leader-hubei-amid-sharp-spike-deaths-39328 https://www.ibtimes.sg/focus-wuhan-potluck-dinner-cpc-fires-... (midway down the article) I think we may not have even heard about the virus if not for this Edit: relevant portion: Ill-advised potluck dinner helped spread the virus Another major perceived lapse of the Wuhan party authorities was their decision to let a large public feast go ahead in January despite the fact that there were clear signs that an epidemic was gathering pace. The local government had controversially allowed nearly 40,000 families to gather and share food as part of the Chinese New Year festival even as deaths from the virus were increasing. It later turned out that at least 10 cases of coronavirus infection were reported from among the participants of the feast on January 18, raising fears that the event must have accelerated the spread of the infection in Wuhan.
  - borkt 7y ago
    Hmm, kind of like SXSW planning to go ahead.
    - supernovae 7y ago
      I chuckled.. and I live here...
- bakuninsbart 7y ago
  Honest question though: Which country would handle it better? A commenter below mentioned the US, but the reaction here in Germany has also been ridiculously slow and very lacking in both the political department as well as healthcare officials. An overwhelming majority of NHS medics doesn't think the UK is prepared either. [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/02/coronavirus-just-eight-out-of-1600-doctors-in-poll-say-nhs-is-ready https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/02/coronavirus-...) Our lower population densities and much higher hygene standards make it less likely for a breakout to start here, but our dealing with a pandemic is at least as frighteningly incompetent as the chinese response.
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    I think I read that South Korea is doing a great job, despite being hit hard
  - davidw 7y ago
    We probably won't know until a year or so. Europe at least will treat everyone, so you won't have people avoiding doctors/hospitals because they can't pay.
    - rvnx 7y ago
      It's not really like this in Europe, not sure what made you think all medical care was free ? There are many cases where you are left on the side of the road in Europe too. It's certainly better than in the US, but far from free for everyone.
      - jacquesm 7y ago
        I don't know of a single case of someone going bankrupt here due to medical bils. Feel free to supply examples to the contrary, I'm quite interested in that.
      - neilsense 7y ago
        It can vary country by country, as you'd imagine it would seeing as Europe is a large place, but it's so such a crazy notion to say that you'll most likely find some care in Europe if you're unwell and poor - definitely more so than in the US.
- incompatible 7y ago
  Iran, South Korea, Italy didn't manage to stop it at 100 people either, even with advance warning.
- carterehsmith 7y ago
  >> if the CCP had been better about seeing the truth they could have eliminated the virus when only 100 people had it Are there any "better" governments that eliminated e.g. cold or flu virus "when only 100 people had it"? I guess not. Cold and flu are common around the world. Hard to contain, and the containment would cause too much disruption and cost. So we learned to live with cold and flu.
- Bendingo 7y ago
  > they could have eliminated the virus when only 100 people had it This is simply speculation and not credible. > while the virus ran around getting the better of them In 6 months time, most (or all) western countries will look back and wish they had handled the virus as well as China.
the-pigeon 7y ago
It just reads like an anti-Chinese propaganda piece. Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of Chinese people are very disenfranchised by their government. But a lot of them love it too. But western media always focuses on those that dislike it. Which is not a balanced perspective of their people.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- muglug 7y ago
  Given that putting your name to public criticism is a career-ending move in China, I think it's great that western media gives dissidents a voice.
- unishark 7y ago
  I don't know that any country's media gives a balanced perspective of another country. They just cover the stories that are interesting enough to repeat in their own country. "most people are doing just fine over here" is generally not such a story.
- socialdemocrat 7y ago
  It read like an authentic account from someone living there. Your response in contrast sounds like paid for propaganda in favor of the CCP. I read all sorts of descriptions of China. I would say in general the news is often too positive. Xi has increased dictatorial powers substantially. The internment of Ughuiyers is a massive human rights abuse they get little criticism for. Not to mention the relentless push to end any sliver of democracy and freedom in Hong Kong. Freedom in China is regressing under Xi and that is a serious cause for concern.
  - dang 7y ago
    > Your response in contrast sounds like paid for propaganda in favor of the CCP. That breaks the site guidelines. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and don't do this again. Also, please stop posting nationalistic flamebait to HN. We've already had to ask you this.
borkt 7y ago
Yeah, what is the point of a quarantine if they give you a warning and allow you to shop and leave the city? By very nature of his description it has worked as hoped.
- socialdemocrat 7y ago
  Problem is you risk killing more people with the quarantine than due to the virus if it is too draconian. You need some flexibility to let people get food.

mosseater 7y ago

Of course it's hard living in Wuhan during this outbreak/pandemic. There are sacrifices to be made and they are the Wuhan residents. But this doesn't make China an evil authoritarian government mishandling the situation. China is doing the best it can to stop this outbreak where it stands. Yes that means quarantining the hot spot. Yes that means taking over dorms for room to quarantine people. Yes that means medical care at hospitals will be stretched extremely thin. But what is the alternative? Letting things run rampant because you didn't want to impose upon peoples human rights? The greater good of the whole population means more than the convenience of the Wuhan people. I just hope America falls in line. And yes, they didn't act immediately when they had patients in December. That could have been handled better. Hindsight is 20/20. But their mindset, about not wanting to start an unwarranted panic, about wanting to investigate things fully, is understandable.

unishark 7y ago
> But what is the alternative? Letting things run rampant because you didn't want to impose upon peoples human rights? Yes this is the alternative. We trade security, another form of it in this case, for freedom. I didn't think the author made a very good case for "living hell", or for that matter have a very good list of egregious things the govt did. But they made a good point at the end with "one day you may be the price that is paid". Anyway the US won't have to face the issue as China did because it will arrive everywhere if it gets bad, not one starting point that can be contained. And then all the govt here has to do is scare people enough with warnings of danger to lock things down pretty well. Fears of liability will do most of the rest when it comes to schools and other things shutting down.
- bronipstid 7y ago
  Your alternative sounds an awful lot like what has been done in china by other means.
read_article 7y ago
It's obvious to me that you haven't read the article. You read the article title. Don't be so lazy.

williw 7y ago

Should probably fact check this before publishing, but the lockdown was rumored ahead of time on wechat. They didn't enforce it for like 8 hours. That's why there were lots of people who managed to flee Wuhan. That's a well-known fact.

terrycody 7y ago
Exactly, and I am shocked that today's journalism can publish what they want, regardless of the real truth, and from what I know, no one in wuhan "locked down" by government, they just can't go outside of the province, and this is a must in such an emergency, as for an unknown deadly virus, what can you expect then? We are sane human, first we need to be alive.

dirtyid 7y ago

Grass is greener on the other side when people are disgruntled. These stale China collapse because XYZ recent disaster always gets pushed by western MSM because it's easier to find dissenting voices during times of crisis and hysteria. Then shit hits the fan in comfortable democracies and people wonder why we can't build a triage hospital in 10 days. >Why were we notified about the city lockdown at 2 a.m. on the second to last morning before the Lunar New Year? ... >We tried every method to escape from Wuhan, but the cage was already locked. This is why. ... >But people are not thinking critically. They do not understand that if we had human rights, democracy and freedom, we would have learned about what happened in Wuhan one month earlier. And the first whistleblower would not have died for nothing. See Japanese response. CDC just removed testing statistics from their website. Now that initial hysteria has died down and the virus seemingly contained, Chinese social media is noticing the containment failures abroad from countries with ample warning and commenting that CPC central government might not be so incompetent after all. The WHO report from today is going to reinforce those notions.

backupcavalry 7y ago
I have a hard time believing China actually has it under control when they've already been caught fiddling with their number of infected / dead constantly. That, and WHO has been spending all of their time trying to avoid offending China.
- dirtyid 7y ago
  China is opaque so you have to look at oblique indicators, in this case school has resumed. Kids going back to school indicates the leadership has some confidence that the party thinks the crisis is near the end. Even though kids are at low risk, after SiChuan earthquake school scandal, the political cost of risking children's health for political points is too high even for China. E: Also Xi visited Wuhan recently, and the annual two sessions meeting is happening in a few days while events are being cancelled around the world. It's the biggest annual political event. Xi is basically over if we get a bunch of infected kids or politicians like in Iran. I guess we'll see if it's confidence or calculus.

cameldrv 7y ago

Not a fan of authoritarian governments, and China's initial coverup of the virus is deplorable, BUT: 1. The reason they didn't pre-announce the quarantine was that it would defeat the purpose -- people would rush to leave ahead of the deadline. 2. Guy being kicked out of his college dorm: they had so many cases that they needed more space to isolate confirmed cases. They may have built a pre-fab hospital in a week, but that was nowhere near the capacity necessary. A college dorm is one of the better buildings if you need a building to turn into a makeshift hospital immediately. You've got a bunch of small individual rooms, kitchen facilities, and common areas that can be repurposed. The government determined that it was necessary to appropriate the building for the good of the city and did it. And look at where we are here in the U.S. We had a two month head start, and we still can't do widespread testing, the virus is spreading undetected. China was strongly criticized for providing unreliable numbers, and here we are, now the CDC has simply stopped providing state by state data on testing, and stopped providing a total count of tests done. It's truly shameful, and I pray for the health of people in this country, especially older people.

_bxg1 7y ago
I don't think the corruption and bureaucratic incompetency in today's United States lessens the story about that in China. At least we're allowed to talk about it.
- c789a123 7y ago
  I think US gov has done quite well by cut air traffic with China after CCP announced that there is a plague going on around Jan 2x. But the problem is the plague has gone on at least 2 months in China until that time, so even North Korean which closed its border immediately after CCP announcement now has an outbreak. Before CCP made the announcement they suppressed info as much as possible and did nothing to control the spread. Until around the Jan 2x when it can not hide it anymore. Even after this, CCP still made WHO to lower the alert level of the world. Today's situation is the sole result of CCP's wrong doings and they should do a full accounting of it in the world court.
  - 7y ago

socialdemocrat 7y ago

A reminder to those who all to easily marvel at the “efficiency” of dictatorships

rdtwo 7y ago

Seattle is on track for its own “potluck. Comic con is in 2 weeks if it doesn’t get cancels it will disastrous for spreading sicknesses

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

ailife 7y ago

This article is obviously biased or lacks understanding of the facts. If it is written by a Chinese, its purpose is only to complain about his own condition, but it does not help the current situation. Chinese people's efforts have earned time for the people of the world. If you want to condemn China, may I ask, which country in the G7 did not rely on colonization and became a developed country?

bdhe 7y ago
I'm sorry, but your response isn't constructive and suspicious given your phrasing and your having created an account specifically for this. While it IS one person's experience and no more, blind dismissal and talking about colonization is completely inappropriate.
- ailife 7y ago
  Allow others to talk about "disenfranchised", but not "colonization", I don't understand why this is happening. In addition, I did not register for a hack news account before, so I just registered one, not because of this