Tausende verlassen das vom Virus betroffene Wuhan
8 APR 2020
WUHAN (CHINA) – Tausende von chinesischen Reisenden strömten in Scharen in die Züge, die am frühen Mittwoch aus dem vom Coronavirus befallenen Wuhan abfuhren, als die Behörden das mehr als zweimonatige Ausreiseverbot aus der Stadt, in der die globale Pandemie erstmals aufgetreten ist, aufhoben.
Als das Verbot pünktlich um Mitternacht (Dienstag um 1600 GMT) aufgehoben wurde, brachten viele Passagiere ihre Freude und Erleichterung zum Ausdruck, als sie in den Bahnhof Wuhan Wuchang einfuhren und die Chance nutzten, in die Nachtzüge zu steigen, die die Stadt verließen.
“Wuhan hat bei dieser Epidemie viel verloren, und die Menschen in Wuhan haben einen hohen Preis bezahlt”, sagte ein 21-jähriger Mann mit dem Familiennamen Yao, der auf dem Weg zurück zu seinem Restaurantjob in Shanghai war.
“Jetzt, wo die Sperre aufgehoben ist, sind wir alle ziemlich glücklich.”
Schätzungen der Regierung zufolge werden am Mittwoch bis zu 55.000 Menschen aus der Stadt, die am 23. Januar unter eine beispiellose Quarantäne-Sperre gestellt wurde, mit dem Zug abreisen.
Einige konnten ihr Glück kaum in Grenzen halten.
“Ich sitze seit 77 Tagen fest! Ich sitze seit 77 Tagen fest”, rief ein Mann aus der Nachbarprovinz Hunan, der sich in Wuhan befand, als die Quarantäne verhängt wurde.
Die Abriegelung machte Wuhan zum ersten Ort der Welt, der drakonischen Eindämmungsschritten unterworfen war, wie sie jetzt in vielen Ländern zu beobachten sind.
Schnell folgte auch der Rest der umliegenden Provinz Hubei, wobei Zehnmillionen von Menschen in ihren Häusern eingeschlossen und die Provinz vom Rest der Welt abgeschnitten wurde, da der Ein- und Abtransport gestoppt wurde, um die Übertragung des Virus zu verhindern.
– Lange Zeit nicht gesehen –
Chinesische Medien begrüßten die Aufhebung des Reiseverbots und veröffentlichten nach Mitternacht auf ihren Websites Schlagzeilen: “Wuhan, lange Zeit nicht gesehen.”
Hubei und die Provinzhauptstadt Wuhan haben die Mehrheit der offiziell von China beanspruchten Zahl von insgesamt mehr als 81.000 Infektionen und mehr als 3.300 Todesfällen erlitten.
In einer Ankündigung, die über die Lautsprecheranlage des Bahnhofs schrillte, hieß es: “Wuhan verdient es, die Stadt der Helden genannt zu werden. Die Menschen in Wuhan verdienen es, Helden genannt zu werden.”
Trotz der in Hubei ergriffenen Maßnahmen verbreitete sich der Erreger in China und der Welt.
Doch die Behörden der Kommunistischen Partei – denen eine träge Reaktion und ein anfänglicher Versuch, den Ausbruch zu vertuschen, vorgeworfen wird – haben behauptet, dass es in letzter Zeit gelungen sei, das Virus in den Griff zu bekommen, obwohl die Fragen nach der Richtigkeit der gemeldeten Fallzahlen weiterhin bestehen.
Die offizielle nationale Bilanz der Coronavirus-Todesfälle und der Gesamtzahl der Fälle ist in den letzten Wochen stark zurückgegangen, wobei die nationale Gesundheitskommission am Dienstag erklärte, dass in den vorangegangenen 24 Stunden keine neuen Todesfälle zu verzeichnen waren.
Das war der erste Tag ohne Todesfälle, seit China im Januar mit der Veröffentlichung von Zahlen begann.
Die Erleichterung über Chinas sinkende Viruszahlen wurde jedoch durch die Vorsicht vor neuen Risiken gemildert: die steigende Zahl der aus dem Ausland eintreffenden Infizierten – vor allem zurückkehrende chinesische Staatsbürger – und die unsichtbare Gefahr asymptomatischer Fälle.
Die Einwohner von Hubei waren bis vor etwa zwei Wochen an ihre Heimat gebunden, bis die Beschränkungen gelockert wurden, was eine Wiederaufnahme der Einreise aus anderen Teilen Chinas auslöste.
Die Behörden hatten jedoch bis Mittwoch gewartet, um den normalen Verkehr aus Wuhan heraus zuzulassen, da im Rest des Landes weiterhin befürchtet wird, dass die Menschen aus der Stadt ein Risiko darstellen.
Chinesische Beamte der Seuchenkontrolle sagten im Januar, dass das Virus wahrscheinlich von Wildtieren auf Menschen übergesprungen sei, und zwar auf einem Markt in Wuhan, auf dem eine Vielzahl von Wildtieren als Nahrungsmittel verkauft wurden.
Die Behörden von Wuhan sagten am Wochenende, dass verschiedene Bewegungsbeschränkungen bestehen bleiben würden, um eine zweite Infektionswelle zu verhindern, und argumentierten, dass “noch größere Wachsamkeit erforderlich ist”, jetzt, da das Reiseverbot aufgehoben wurde.
Auch für die Menschen aus Wuhan gibt es beim Ausstieg Hürden.
Sie müssen den Nachweis erbringen, dass ihr Herkunftsgebiet für sicher erklärt wurde, und viele von ihnen sehen sich mit der Wahrscheinlichkeit von zweiwöchigen Quarantänen in ihren Zielprovinzen konfrontiert.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1895080/thousands-leave-virus-hit-wuhan-as-outbound-travel-ban-lifted
Übersetzt mit http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (kostenlose Version)
Trump says when to reopen US economy 'biggest decision' of presidency
PUBLISHED : 11 APR 2020 WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday said his decision on when to reopen the US economy, shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be the toughest he has ever taken.
"I'm going to have to make a decision and I only hope to God that it's the right decision. But I would say without question, it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make," Trump told a press conference.
Trump, who faces a tight reelection in November, is keen to get the US economy back open after weeks of tough measures that shut down businesses and dramatically cut down on transport across the country to slow the virus's spread.
The previously strong economy was the biggest selling point in his campaign platform.
However, he also faces warnings that a premature opening would put lives at risk by allowing the virus to take a new hold.
"I have to make the biggest decision of my life," he said.
With current federal guidelines on social distancing set to expire at the end of the month, expectations are growing that Trump will tell Americans they can start resuming normal activity from May -- at least in parts of the country.
The decision will be partly based on medical data, but also heavily swayed by political considerations and advice from the business community which has been devastated by the shutdown, with an abrupt drop in revenues and mass unemployment claims.
In what will mark an important step in the process, Trump says he will be announcing members of a new task force on Tuesday.
"I call it the opening our country task force or opening our country council," he said.
The group will include "very great doctors and business people," as well as probably governors of states.
In a sign that Trump will seek broad support for what could be a politically dangerous decision, he said he wanted bipartisan representation from politicians on the council.
"I want to put on both parties," he said.
Reassuring critics who say he risks rushing, Trump insisted medical opinion will be key.
"We're looking at a date, we hope we'll be able to fulfill a certain date, but we're not doing anything until we know this country is going to be healthy," he said.
"We don't want to go back and start doing it over again."
PUBLISHED : 11 APR 2020 WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Friday said his decision on when to reopen the US economy, shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be the toughest he has ever taken.
"I'm going to have to make a decision and I only hope to God that it's the right decision. But I would say without question, it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make," Trump told a press conference.
Trump, who faces a tight reelection in November, is keen to get the US economy back open after weeks of tough measures that shut down businesses and dramatically cut down on transport across the country to slow the virus's spread.
The previously strong economy was the biggest selling point in his campaign platform.
However, he also faces warnings that a premature opening would put lives at risk by allowing the virus to take a new hold.
"I have to make the biggest decision of my life," he said.
With current federal guidelines on social distancing set to expire at the end of the month, expectations are growing that Trump will tell Americans they can start resuming normal activity from May -- at least in parts of the country.
The decision will be partly based on medical data, but also heavily swayed by political considerations and advice from the business community which has been devastated by the shutdown, with an abrupt drop in revenues and mass unemployment claims.
In what will mark an important step in the process, Trump says he will be announcing members of a new task force on Tuesday.
"I call it the opening our country task force or opening our country council," he said.
The group will include "very great doctors and business people," as well as probably governors of states.
In a sign that Trump will seek broad support for what could be a politically dangerous decision, he said he wanted bipartisan representation from politicians on the council.
"I want to put on both parties," he said.
Reassuring critics who say he risks rushing, Trump insisted medical opinion will be key.
"We're looking at a date, we hope we'll be able to fulfill a certain date, but we're not doing anything until we know this country is going to be healthy," he said.
"We don't want to go back and start doing it over again."
Wuhan reopens after 76-day lockdown
Apr 08. 2020
People's lives, safety, health prioritized in war on COVID-19
Ending the lockdown of Wuhan, Hubei province, on Wednesday will become a milestone for China in securing final victory in the people's war against the COVID-19 outbreak under the command of President Xi Jinping, observers said.
The decisive measures that the Communist Party of China Central Committee－with Xi as its general secretary－have taken to help Wuhan fight the epidemic held the key to curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus in what was the hardest-hit city, as well as in the province and in the entire country, they said.
A constant theme has been "people first" in the fight against the contagion as Xi has stressed putting people's lives, safety and health as the top priority and placing the people's interests above everything else.
In his meeting with World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Jan 28 in Beijing, Xi said people's safety and their health always come first.
Recounting his experience of leading World Health Organization experts on a nine-day joint mission investigating COVID-19 in China, Canadian epidemiologist Bruce Aylward commended China's approaches in responding to the disease.
"If I had COVID-19, I'd want to be treated in China," he said. "They know and they care about keeping people alive, and they do it successfully."
While masterminding the epidemic prevention and control efforts, Xi gave Hubei, particularly Wuhan, the provincial capital, priority. He said that "when Wuhan wins, Hubei wins; when Hubei wins, China wins".
Therefore, since the start of the outbreak, the CPC Central Committee has taken the most comprehensive, thorough and rigorous measures to resolutely curb the spread of the virus in Wuhan and Hubei.
As experts recommended quarantine measures to help reduce population movement, which in turn helped to stem the spread of the virus, the CPC Central Committee made the decision on Jan 22 to ask Hubei to stop outbound travel to prevent the disease from spreading in other regions.
Xi said at a meeting in February that making such a decision demands tremendous political courage, but "time calls for resolute action, otherwise, we would be in trouble".
On Jan 23, the authorities in Wuhan announced the lockdown of the city. All public transportation and businesses were suspended, and residents were required to stay indoors to cut transmission in neighborhoods.
Putting such a huge city with over 10 million residents under quarantine was unprecedented but has proved to be effective. During his visit to Wuhan on March 10, Xi said all prevention and control measures adopted by the CPC Central Committee focus on preventing more people from being infected and are aimed at saving more patients' lives.
Chen Weiguo, president of the State-owned China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co, said building the hospitals in such a short time sounded like a mission impossible, but his company created a miracle.
More than 34,000 employees from around China worked around the clock, and they raced against time to build the hospitals in order to get more patients treated, Chen said.
Over 340 medical teams consisting of over 42,600 medical workers from across the country, rushed to the hardest-hit city at the call of the central government. That number included at least 4,000 medical staff from the People's Liberation Army.
Wang Xinghuan, president of Leishenshan Hospital, said 3,202 medical workers from 286 hospitals from across the country gathered in the medical facility to help treat the critically ill patients.
"We all have the same goal, saving more lives and helping more patients recover from the illness," Wang said, adding more than 1,000 volunteers and a great number of State-owned and private companies offered their services to ensure the hospital operated well.
Nineteen provinces formed partnerships with 16 cities and counties in Hubei to help them where medical resources were overstretched, a usual practice China follows in mobilizing nationwide resources for disaster relief.
When Xi flew to Wuhan on an inspection tour on March 10, he expressed his respect for medical workers, military officers and soldiers, community workers, police officers, officials, volunteers and people from all walks of life who have been fighting the epidemic on the front line. He expressed sympathy to patients and their relatives, as well as the families of those who died of the disease and those who died on duty.
While stressing that medical treatment should be given the top priority to improve the recovery rate and reduce mortality to the greatest extent through scientific and targeted treatment, he demanded more understanding and tolerance for people in Hubei and Wuhan if some vented their frustrations after being under self-quarantine for a long time, as well as efforts to ensure the supply of their life necessities.
Chen Feng, a 75-year-old resident of Songtaoyuan community in Wuhan's Wuchang district, said he appreciated Xi's personal care for people's sufferings as well as his strong leadership in the people's war on the epidemic. "President Xi's visit to Wuhan took place at a critical time in the fight against the virus. His visit boosted our confidence in securing victory," Chen said.
Thanks to the stringent prevention and control measures, the situation in Wuhan keeps improving. Ma Xiaowei, minister of the National Health Commission, said at a news conference on March 31 that the domestic spread of the virus, with Wuhan being the main battlefield, has been "basically blocked" and epidemic control efforts have produced significant results.
Zhang Wenhong, director of the infectious disease department of Shanghai Huashan Hospital, told China Central Television that it is an unprecedented, remarkable achievement that a country can contain the pandemic in around two to four months. "All the nation, people and medical workers have done their utmost to curb the epidemic," Zhang said.
The risk of imported infections remains high, so vigilance is still highly needed to prevent the disease from going viral again, he said, adding that he is confident the country will fully win the battle against the virus.