WHO expert to Wuhan people: “The world is in your debt”

The WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19 visits Tongji Hospital (Optics Valley Campus) for field investigation on February 23 (Photo by Tao Jidong)2月23日，中國—世界衛生組織新冠肺炎聯合專家考察組在同濟醫院（光谷院區）現場調研（陶繼東 攝）

“(Wuhan,) the city of skyscrapers, giant auto routes and a gorgeous hypermodern train station was silent. It was a ghost town. And behind every window of these skyscrapers we drove past, there were people. There were 15 million people who were staying put in one place for weeks at a time to stop this disease.”

These were the remarks Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the team lead of a WHO-China joint mission on COVID-19, gave in late February after he finished the study trip in China.

From 16 to 24 February 2020, 25 experts from China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, the United States of America and the World Health Organization (WHO) formed a joint mission to carry out field study on the coronavirus outbreak in China. Recalling details of the study trip in China, Aylward said he was impressed by the Chinese people that, “They all shared this sense of responsibility, accountability to be part of this.” He believes it is Chinese people’s resilience and dedication that have largely contained the spread of the virus.

He told the story of some Chinese medical staff dropping off in the meetings with the joint mission because of the exhausting work, and said he was particularly impressed by thousands of health care workers volunteering to go into Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“這座有著許多高樓大廈、寬敞的高速公路、現代化的火車站的城市，變得沉寂，仿佛是一座空城。我們途經一座座高樓大廈，窗戶后面，有1500 萬武漢人，他們幾個星期都待在屋里，這一切只是為了阻止病毒的傳播。”這是世界衛生組織總干事高級顧問布魯斯·艾爾沃德2月下旬在結束對中國的實地考察后發出的感慨。

2020年2月16日 至24日，由來自中國、德國、日本、韓國、尼日利亞、俄羅斯、新加坡、美國和世界衛生組織的25 名中外專家組成的中國—世界衛生組織新冠肺炎聯合專家考察組在華開展調研。回憶起在中國的考察行程，艾爾沃德說，自己在醫院里、飛機和火車上同奮戰在一線的醫護人員、工作人員等交談、了解情況，“最讓我震撼的是，每一個中國人都有很強烈的責任擔當和奉獻精神，愿意為抗擊疫情做出貢獻”。

艾爾沃德分享了他在中國觀察到的幾個細節：奮戰在抗疫一線的醫護人員和工作人員全力以赴，非常疲憊，有工作人員在同考察組談話間隙困得睡著了；中國其他省份的醫療隊攜帶個人防護裝備和醫療設備馳援湖北，甚至接管整個院區，這在其他國家是不可想象的。

“中國采取了最徹底、最嚴格的防控舉措，執行起來不折不扣?！卑瑺栁值抡f，中國針對不同地區采取“差異化”的防控措施。具體來說，就是針對武漢以及湖北省外的地方采取不同等級的防控措施，對于沒有病例、零星病例、聚集性病例、有社區傳播現象的地區，實施差異化的應對措施。

“武漢街道空無一人，但是每個窗戶后面都有配合應對疫情的市民。中國展現了驚人的集體行動力與合作精神。”艾爾沃德看到，每一個人都被動員和組織起來，就像是在跟病毒打一場戰爭，他們肩負起了阻止病毒蔓延的共同責任。

“正是由于中國采用了全政府、全社會的這一經典傳統又看似老派的方法，避免了少則萬余多，多則數十萬病例的出現，這是了不起的成就?！被蛟S正是因為這段經歷深刻打動了他，所以艾爾沃德才會在24日晚的新聞發布會上如此總結并專門致謝武漢人民：“我們要認識到武漢人民所做的貢獻，世界欠你們一份情。當這場疫情過去，希望有機會代表世界再一次感謝武漢人民?！?/p>

Bruce Aylward, head of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19’s foreign expert panel, holds up a chart showing the results of China’s epidemic control efforts at the news conference (Photo by Xing Guangli) 中國—世界衛生組織新冠肺炎聯合專家考察組外方組長布魯斯·艾爾沃德在新聞發布會上用圖表展示中國抗疫成就（邢廣利 攝）

China has taken “differentiated approach” for different situations of sporadic cases, clusters of cases, or community transmission, which makes a massive scale of epidemic control work without exhausting its response, said Aylward.

Wuhan became a ghost town, but behind every window and every skyscraper, there were people cooperating with response. Aylward recalled that “Every person you talked to (in China) has a sense that they’re mobilized like in a war against the virus and they are organized.”

“This approach of all-ofgovernment and all-of-society is very old-fashioned and has averted and probably prevented at least tens of thousands even hundreds of thousands, of cases,” he said. “It is extraordinary.”

“To the people of Wuhan, it is recognized that the world is in your debt,” on the press release on the night of February 24, Aylward especially paid tribute to the people of Wuhan. “When this disease finishes, hopefully we will have a chance to thank the people of Wuhan for the role they have played.”

On March 19, after about two months’ arduous nationwide battle against the epidemic, Wuhan reported no new cases for the first time since the outbreak started. On the following day, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General commented that, “Wuhan provides hope for the rest of the world that even the most serious situation can be turned around. Of course, we must exercise caution. The situation can reverse. But the experience of cities and countries that have pushed back this virus gives hope and courage to the rest of the world.”

At 7:00 pm on March 11, some 80 convalescents are under quarantine and observation in their respective rooms at a rehabilitation center in Hongshan District, Wuhan City. Outside their windows are the silent streets illuminated by the streetlights. (Photo by Li Xi)3月11日晚7 時，武漢市洪山區某康復驛站，近80 名康復者在各自房間里接受隔離觀察。窗外華燈初上，馬路上空無一人。（李溪 攝）

One month later on April 26, thanks to the joint effort of all medical works, Wuhan, the central Chinese city once hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, cleared all COVID-19 cases in hospitals.

“That’s very very welcome news to hear that there are no more severe cases, no more patients in Wuhan,” said Dr. Maria van Kerkhove at a virtual press briefing later.

“So congratulations on this achievement,” she said.

Dr. van Kerkhove appreciated the “tireless efforts” of the people in Wuhan—“not just the healthcare workers but the individuals who stayed in their homes, who adhered to the public health measures.”

“We take our hats off to you, and we thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us in the world what you’ve been able to do,” she said.

As one of the China-WHO joint mission who visited China in February, Dr. van Kerkhove said “China has worked very hard to bring the outbreak under control.”

“The world has learned from China,” Dr. van Kerkhove said, “and we need to continue to learn from Wuhan on how they are lifting those measures, how they are bringing society back to normal, or a new normal, in terms of how we’re going to live with this virus going forward.”

(Source: Xinhua News Agency, people.cn, China Daily)

3月19日，經過近兩個月艱苦卓絕的舉國戰“疫”，湖北省、武漢市新增確診病例終于首度歸零。對此，世界衛生組織總干事譚德塞表示：“武漢（零新增）給世界帶來了希望：即使是疫情最嚴重的情況也能扭轉。當然，我們仍需謹慎行事，因為疫情形勢仍然可能逆轉。但是，擊退這種病毒的城市和國家，它們的經驗給世界其他地區帶來了希望和勇氣?！?/p>

4月26日，經過武漢和全國援鄂醫務人員的共同努力，武漢在院新冠肺炎患者清零，世界衛生組織衛生緊急項目技術負責人瑪麗亞·范凱爾克霍弗對此表示祝賀并感謝武漢人民的“不懈努力”，不僅僅是醫務工作者，還包括很長一段時期內遵守居家隔離措施的每個人。

范凱爾克霍弗今年曾作為世衛專家組成員到中國考察兩周，她表示，自己親眼見證了中國所做的努力，現在有許多其他城市正應對與武漢同樣的問題，“我們要繼續向武漢學習”，學習他們如何逐步解封、讓社會回歸正常。