Wuhan Battle Against COVID-19 in Retrospect

By Cai Zhaoyang, Cheng Rongxing, Li Mo & Yu Jinyi

At the turn of the Year of the Rat 2020, a novel coronavirus outbreak quietly emerged in Wuhan. The disease is characterized by unnoticed early symptoms, high contagiousness, long incubation period, difficulty in diagnosis, and an unknown source of transmission...

The city, known as a gateway to nine provinces, was about to welcome the annual Spring Festival travel rush of the largest population migration in the world. Here, a 4-hour high-speed train trip starting from Wuhan can cover nearly 1 billion population and 90% of the economic aggregate in China.

If the epidemic was to spread across the country, the consequences could have been catastrophic.

City lockdown: a heroic endeavor to safeguard the whole country

At 10 o’clock on the morning of January 23, Wuhan, a city with a population of ten million, was put under an unprecedented lockdown. All the airports, train stations, coach stations, and expressways were closed to stop outbound travels. City transportation including buses, subways, and taxis were suspended. The movement of vehicles were controlled...

Few cars pass over the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge on January 27, 2020 (Photo by Cheng Min)1月27日，少量汽車從武漢長江大橋上駛過（程敏 攝）

According toScience, the world’s top academic journal, Wuhan lockdown, the largest quarantine in human history, played a crucial role in the containment of the epidemic.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, praised Wuhan: “The high speed and massive scale of China’s response are rarely seen in the world. It shows the advantage of China’s system. The experience of China is worth learning for other countries. I believe the measures China has taken will effectively control and finally prevail over the epidemic.”

Treatment: medical staff in white fighting the epidemic

At this critical time, numerous heroes in white stepped forward, regardless of their own safety and remuneration. Not a single hospital or medical worker ever backed down.

Academician Zhong Nanshan鐘南山院士

Academician Li Lanjuan李蘭娟院士

Liu Zhiming, Zhang Jixian, Zhang Dingyu, Wu Jianli, and a lot more pioneers like them made numerous wonders in the fight against the epidemic. Behind them stood over 60,000 medical staff, with no fear of hardships, and proceeding without hesitation. When the city suffered from the shortage of hospital beds, Wuhan mobilized all the staff of its medical system, quickly requisitioned and repurposed 55 hospitals in order to treat patients with fever.

庚子鼠年，歲末年初，新冠病毒感染肺炎疫情悄然侵襲武漢。該疫起病隱匿、傳染性強、潛伏期長、確診困難、傳播源未知……

而這座素有“九省通衢”之稱的城市，即將迎來一年一度最大規模的人口遷徙——春運。以這里為圓心，在高鐵時代以4 小時走1000公里為半徑，其覆蓋面可達我國大約10 億人口和90%的經濟總量。

一旦疫情在全國蔓延，后果將不堪設想。

果斷封城防擴散

1月23日上午10 時，武漢這座千萬級人口城市，史無前例地毅然“封城”：全部關閉機場、火車站、長途客運站、高速公路等離漢通道；暫停運營公交、地鐵、出租車等城市交通；車輛出行管制……

《科學》雜志評價，作為人類歷史上最大的隔離事件，武漢封城對疫情的遏制起到了至關重要的作用。世界衛生組織總干事譚德塞評價：“中方行動速度之快、規模之大，世所罕見，這是中國的制度優勢，有關經驗值得其他國家借鑒，相信中國采取的措施將有效控制并最終戰勝疫情?！?/p>

白衣執甲戰疫魔

面對疫情，全城醫護人員不計生死、不論報酬，沒有一家醫院、一名醫護人員臨陣退縮。劉智明、張繼先、張定宇、彭志勇、烏劍利等一大批醫者先鋒和6 萬余名武漢醫護人員，創造了無數奇跡；55家醫院迅速改造，集中接診發熱患者。

1月23日、25日，火神山醫院、雷神山醫院相繼破土興建。寒風凜冽之中，數萬名建設者火速集結，千余臺機械設備同時作業，日夜鏖戰。不到半月，火神山、雷神山竣工收治。

2月初，武漢以每1.5 天改造一座方艙醫院的速度與病魔競速。一個月內，武漢增加床位6 萬多張，實現了從“人等床”到“床等人”的重要轉折。

Far into the night a community worker still sorting files of reidential households深夜，一名社區工作人員在整理居民材料

黨中央、中央軍委一聲號召，全國30 個省市自治區、新疆生產建設兵團和人民解放軍42000 多名醫務人員迅速集結，組成300 多支醫療隊，支援湖北；全國各地醫療物資迅速向湖北傳遞。鐘南山、李蘭娟、張伯禮等院士，年逾古稀，臨危受命，領銜戰斗在一線……

星夜馳援保供應

戰“疫”之初，防護服、呼吸機、護目鏡等防護物資全面告急，醫護人員用垃圾袋自制防護服，用硬塑料皮制作防護面罩，甚至戴著泳鏡進入感染區……

25 個省市、31 家重點企業以及2000 多家配套零部件企業工人結束休假，火速返崗，恢復保障醫療設備生產。阿里集團投入10 億元全世界范圍內采購醫療物資，定點支援武漢醫療機構。卓爾集團6 天時間內采購了300 萬個醫用口罩、30 萬只N95 口罩、近30 萬件防護服、32000 副護目鏡……一大批企業家、社會愛心人士和國外華人華僑，紛紛解囊相助；為保障醫護人員生活，提振患者信心，90后武漢女孩華雨辰，站在塑料小凳上為大家廣播；東西湖區快遞小哥汪勇，每天接送醫護人員；40 歲的新冠肺炎治愈者翁江捐出自己帶著抗體與希望的血漿……

The once hustling and bustling Jiefang Avenue in Wuhan is now empty with only one ambulance on the way熱鬧的解放大道此時只能看到一輛救護車

近千萬市民堅守家中，民生亟待保障。2月中旬，首批2000 噸中央儲備庫凍豬肉運抵武漢。約2 萬噸蔬果，半個月內從山東、安徽、江西、河南、湖南、重慶、廣西、云南等8 個省區市調運武漢。天河機場、三大火車站、陽邏港等各碼頭，各地運送來的“生命給養”堆積如山

On January 23 and 25, the construction of Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital started respectively. Amidst the piercing cold wind, tens of thousands of construction workers were quickly summoned up and started operation with more than 1000 machines. In less than half a month, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan, the two hospitals dedicated for COVID-19 patients sprung up from the ground.

In early February, Wuhan built makeshift hospitals at a speed of one new hospital every 1.5 days. Within one month, more than 60,000 beds were added in Wuhan, marking an important turning point from the state of patients waiting for beds to beds waiting for patients.

In Wuhan Sports Center Makeshift Hospital, staff inspecting hygienic condition in the ward corridor (Photo by Ke Hao)武漢體育中心方艙醫院，保潔人員在病房走廊巡查衛生狀況 （柯皓 攝）

To answer the call of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, more than 300 medical assistance teams made up of over 42,000 medical workers from 30 provinces, centrally-administered municipalities, autonomous regions, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and the People’s Liberation Army were quickly assembled and marched towards Hubei and Wuhan. Medical supplies were sent to Hubei from all over China. Academicians Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan, and Zhang Boli, all over 70, joined the mission at the very moment, and led the fight at the front line.

Material supply: materials pour into Wuhan from all directions

The situation in Wuhan was hardly optimistic at the initial stage in the war against the epidemic.

Wuhan was in urgent need of medical supplies. In shortage of protective suits, ventilators, protective goggles, some medical workers even wore garbage bags, self-made masks and swimming goggles in the “red zone.”

In this Spring Festival, workers from 25 provinces, 31 key enterprises, and more than 2,000 component producers ended their vacation and rushed back to their posts to restore the production of medical equipment. Alibaba Group set aside 1 billion yuan for global procurement of medical supplies and sent the materials to medical institutions in Wuhan. Zall Group purchased 3 million medical masks, 300,000 N95 respirators, nearly 300,000 pieces of protective clothing, and 32,000 pairs of protective goggles within 6 days... A large number of entrepreneurs, warm-hearted people, and overseas Chinese made generous donations to support Wuhan.。

Volunteers carrying donated vegetables 志愿者們搬運外地捐來的蔬菜

“線上下單+社區團購+配送到小區”的生活物資供應模式迅速建立，一端串起商超，一端對接千家萬戶。疫情無法外出務工，低收入群體生活困難，武漢五大商超推出“10 元10 斤”的特價蔬菜包。孤寡老人等特殊家庭，社區有專人聯絡照顧。社區工作人員、黨員干部、志愿者、物業職工接力，把物資分發到居民家中。數百萬家庭的餐桌從未告急。

嚴防死守阻傳播

徹底斬斷病毒傳播鏈條，社區成為“武漢保衛戰”第二戰場。2月11日起，全市所有住宅小區封閉，近千萬武漢人民自覺緊閉家門。無數社區工作者、下沉干部、公安干警與志愿者一道，筑起一道道健康“堤壩”，服務小區居民生活。

年屆花甲的社區書記胡明榮每天接打近600 個電話，帶領近百人的團隊服務近萬人的社區；清晨5點，網格員豐楓就出門幫居民買藥，幾十個藥袋子串在一起、掛在身上，被稱為“藥袋哥”；社區“臨時書記”黃恒每天處理近300 起住戶訴求，累到腰椎間盤舊疾復發，只能躺在辦公室的硬地板上安排工作、接打電話；民警吳涌連續奮戰61天，勞累過度，犧牲在崗位上，年僅51 歲；環衛工滿彩美，每天清理十幾個重癥病房的垃圾，防護服里都是汗水。

他們都在平凡的崗位上綻放出人生的精彩。

復產復工見希望

經過艱苦卓絕的努力，武漢接連傳來好消息：

3月18日以來，武漢市連續多日無新增確診病例、疑似病例；重癥、危重癥患者降至三位數；4月4日全市無疫情小區占比達98.4%，全市防疫取得階段性重要成果，經濟社會秩序加快恢復。

地鐵開了！中歐國際班列通了！企業運轉了！超市定點開放了，醫院恢復門診了，滯留在外的家人回來了……

2020年4月8日零時，武漢在閉城76 個日夜后，正式解除離漢通道管控措施。但嚴格的防控還貫徹于社會的方方面面。在武漢元氣漸拾、重歸正軌之時，市民們知道，持續做好防控是必須的。全世界還在與COVID-19 戰斗，保護好自身安全就是對世界最好的貢獻。

Numerous common citizens stepped forward to volunteer and help: To guarantee medical workers daily necessities and cheer up the patients, Hua Yuchen, a young girl from Wuhan, stood on a plastic stool in a makeshift hospital in Qingshan District and sang for everyone through the broadcast, “The brightest star in the night sky, please light my way forward...” Wang Yong, a courier from Dongxihu District, drove the medical staff back and forth from the hospitals to their homes every day. Weng Jiang, a 40-year-old newly-cured patient of COVID-19, rolled up his sleeves and donated his plasma which carried both antibodies and hope.

In Wuhan, nearly ten million citizens stayed indoors, and their food supply must be ensured. In the middle of February, the first batch of 2000 tons of frozen pork from the Central Reserve arrived in the city. About 20,000 tons of fruits and vegetables were transported to Wuhan from eight provinces including Shandong, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan, Chongqing, Guangxi, and Yunnan within half a month. Food from all over China were on the dinner tables of Wuhan citizens. In Tianhe Airport, the Yangluo Port piers, and the three major railway stations, piles of essential materials were transported into Wuhan from all over China.

The supply mode of “online order + community group purchase + distribution to the community” was established rapidly, with one end joining up the supermarkets and the other end connecting thousands of households. As people could not go out to work due to the epidemic and the low-income groups had difficulties in making ends meet, five major supermarkets in Wuhan introduced vegetable packages which enabled customers to buy 5 kg of vegetables with 10 yuan.

When the parcels were delivered to the community, the community staff, officials volunteering to work in communities, volunteers, and employees of property company helped distribute the goods to each doorstep. Supply for the dining tables of nine million Wuhan people was never stopped.

Closure and quarantine: strictly on guard against the spread of the virus

To cut off the transmission chain of the virus, the communities became the second battlefield against the virus. On February 11, all the residential communities in Wuhan exercised strict closure management. Countless community workers, officials volunteering to work in communities, police officers, and volunteers rushed to perform their duties. From gate-keeping to door-to-door checking, from daily necessity supplies to psychological counseling, they formed a close network for epidemic control, building up walls to fend off the virus.

Hu Mingrong, a 60-year old community secretary, dealt with almost 600 phone calls per day and led a team of around 100 social workers in serving nearly 10,000 residents in the community. At 5 o’clock in the morning, Feng Feng, a grid worker, went out to buy medicine for the residents. Huang Heng, the interim secretary of a residential community in Hongshan District dealt with nearly 300 inquiries a day. He was so tired that his aged lumbar disc disease recurred, and he had to lie down on the hard floor of the office when arranging the work and answering the calls. Wu Yong, a police officer, passed away on his post at the age of 51 after overworking for 61 successive days. Man Caimei, a sanitation worker worked in the red zone with full protective equipment and cleaned up medical waste for more than a dozen wards every day. After 8-hour’s work in the day, she was always soaked with sweat in her protective suit.

High buildings near Wuhan Sports Center become big banners with slogans “China will win” and “Wuhan will win” on them (Photo by Xiao Yijiu)武漢體育中心附近高層建筑外墻打出“中國必勝”“武漢必勝”等標語（肖藝九 攝）

These people are representatives of all workers who devoted themselves to the smooth running of the city.

Reopen: Wuhan back on the track

Through arduous efforts, Wuhan, once the epicenter of the national epidemic battlefield, has embraced many good news:

Since March 18, there have been no new confirmed or suspected cases in Wuhan, and the number of patients in serious or critical condition has dropped to under 1,000.

On April 4, the epidemic-free communities accounted for 98.4% of the total in the city, and the city’s measures to prevent the virus from spreading within the region or beyond achieved initial success. The economic and social order has been quickly restored.The subway is running! The China-Europe international freight trains resume operation! The enterprises are running! Designated supermarkets have opened to the public. Hospitals have resumed their outpatient service. People stranded elsewhere have returned home.

At midnight on April 8, 2020, after 76 days and nights of lockdown, Wuhan officially lifted the travel ban and resumed outbound traffic. However, strict control measures are still taken in all aspects of society. While Wuhan is reviving and getting back on the track, its citizens are fully aware of the necessity to continue their protection efforts. The whole world is still fighting against COVID-19. Keeping themselves safe is also a great contribution to the world safety.