How was COVID-19, aka coronavirus, able to spread so quickly? Few people know the frustrating story behind how it was able to spread so far. While China and its citizens are facing a lot of backlash regarding their rash and considerably selfish decision to leave the country despite knowing they were infected, I don’t think many people know the full story behind their decision. I have followed the virus and its spread since early January, and would like to share the story that I know.
The virus started in Wuhan, China in mid February, likely in an open-air meat market. The virus had a long incubation period and infected people unwittingly spread the virus all over the small city and throughout the larger Hubei province. By the time symptoms started to show, it was too late – the virus had spread substantially. When news of the outbreak got to the Chinese government, it cracked down in all of the worst ways: it shut down the city and ordered all news outlets not to let any information about the disease to be released into the public.
The people and hospitals sent out a cry for help as supplies to help treat the disease ran low. People from other countries had a massive response: they sent money, masks, supplies and protective gear to help the disease from spreading.
But these supplies weren’t making it to the people who needed them the most.
At first, people sent donations through the Chinese Red Cross. However, the Chinese Red Cross claimed that they didn’t have enough people to deal with the flood of donations that were pouring in. Instead much needed supplies just sat in storage, or were taken to be used for government officials instead. The organization received a lot of backlash and negative publicity for how slowly it was distributing supplies, deterring people from volunteering to help and making matters worse.
Donors started privatizing their donations in order to make sure it got to the specific individuals and hospitals they were intended for. And then the Chinese government intervened! The government said that all donations had to go through the Chinese Red Cross, which already stated it didn’t have the manpower to handle all these donations. During this time, many doctors in China continued to treat patients without protective gear and unfortunately, many died in the process. South China wrote a great article explaining the absurd situation here. Incredibly disappointed by the Chinese government’s ability to manage the situation, citizens of China decided to take matters into their own hands.
If you were told you had a 10 hour time window to leave a deadly environment, what would you do?
Before quarantining Wuhan and the Hubei province, Chinese authorities gave citizens a brief 10-hour window of opportunity to leave the area. Frustratingly, that’s what many of the inhabitants of Wuhan chose to do. Many believed that if they stayed in the Hubei province the Chinese government would sacrifice them and let them die. They moved as far as they could away from where the virus broke out, traveling to other parts of China or internationally. As the virus continued to spread, people left China by plane, train, air and sea to seek better hospitals and healthcare. Since the Chinese government shut down any news of the outbreak, these infected people were able to slip into other nations unnoticed.
The action of these Chinese citizens is both frustrating and understandable. They cared more about their lives than the lives of others. And yet while I can sympathize with them, their decision to leave China has resulted in the worldwide pandemic that we have today. From here onwards, it’s up to the infected countries to control the level of outbreak, which they have done with varying levels of success. Here’s how different countries are responding to the virus.
Finally, if you’re one of the people who has or is planning to hoard supplies, please don’t do it. According to The Federalist, the average American will use one roll of toilet paper a week. For the average family of four, a single package of 36-roll toilet paper from Costco should last 9 weeks, maybe even more if you’re feeling rebellious. Buying up more supplies than you need is only contributing to the problem. Instead, the best way of ensuring that you don’t make contact with the virus is by isolating yourself from others and not touching your eyes, mouth and face.
Toilet paper is the official currency of 2020, so use yours wisely. Source: GIPHY
Stay healthy everyone! Like everything else, the coronavirus too shall pass. Make sure to keep you and your loved ones safe until it does.