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发帖数: 9999 | 2 OK, 把原文也贴这儿
It has been almost a month since I last posted an update of what it is like
here in China. So much has changed between then and now - clearly the
pressing and urgent matter is the spread of the virus around the globe and
the rate of increases of cases in multiple countries.
In Shanghai, the city is back to life this past week. It has slowly been
coming back for the past 2 weeks or so, but this week is the first it has
felt like daily activity is getting back to normal. Restaurants, stores,
banks, offices - of which many had been closed for over a month are open
once again. Traffic jams are back to a regular occurrence and many are
walking the sidewalks where just a few weeks ago they were completely empty.
Over the last week, Shanghai has had only two newly confirmed cases, one of
which was detected during a mandatory quarantine period in a traveler who
arrived from Iran.
There is a lot of optimism that the worst is over, and hope that soon the
city will be declared virus free. This is also the case in many other cities
and provinces throughout China. Hubei province still suffers, but signs of
improvement there are also encouraging.
As the virus spreads globally, I want to highlight the containment and
prevention measures China has implemented, why they have worked, and why I
believe countries around the world need to implement similar measures
starting now.
In order for transmission to occur, the virus needs to come in contact with
other humans. The first major measures China implemented were focused on
social distancing and isolation. Areas where the virus was most prevalent
were locked down, staring with Wuhan, expanding to Hubei province, and even
to other cities with large pockets of the virus detected. In these lockdowns
, people were not allowed to come into or leave these areas. Gatherings of
people such as conventions, sporting events, movie theaters, gyms, etc. were
immediately cancelled or closed. Offices and workplaces closed completely,
the few restaurants that remained opened, only allowed take out food, no
dining in. People were encouraged multiple times a day to stay home. The
thing that amazed me as a westerner, was that everyone complied. The level
of social distancing and isolation was extreme and necessary. Even today, as
the city comes back to life this remains. Starbucks only allows one person
per table so as to ensure people remain at a distance from one another.
The second measures put into place were focused on community transmission
prevention. Encouragement to wash and disinfect hands regularly was
plastered everywhere and was mentioned all over the news. In order to be
outside at all it was necessary to be wearing a mask, to enter buildings,
restaurants grocery stores, you were required to wear a mask and given hand
sanitizer before entering. Buses, taxis, subways, Didi (Chinese Uber), all
required masks to be worn. Public transit, transit stations, public
restrooms were disinfected multiple times a day. In the elevators, boxes of
tissues were placed for people to take one and use it as a cover to push
buttons. Confined spaces often smelled of cleaning solution. My own
apartment building came to disinfect my apartment unit during the height of
cases in Shanghai. Everyone still wears masks, everyone still immediately
washes their hands when they return home or uses disinfectant before eating.
Third major measures were focused on case discovery and treatment. Upon
discovery of a confirmed case, quick and effective contact tracing measures
were put into place. Public areas would take your name and phone number
before allowing you to enter, in the event someone there later was
determined positive, they could contact you and find you quickly. This moved
digitally in QR code based systems, were you would scan various locations,
buses, taxis, subways, etc. and be able to be contacted and located quickly.
To enter any public area, your temperature is taken. Residential
communities issued passes for healthy residents when they would leave their
homes, and would only be allowed back in by returning their pass and being
checked for temperature again. Anyone found to be symptomatic was promptly
taken to fever clinics, normally used for quick check ups and prescriptions
that had now become front line triage. At the fever clinic you will be
tested and examined. If it you are a suspected case you will be put under
mandatory quarantine, this could be at a designated facility or at your home
, if you are not immediately suspected you are asked to self-quarantine, in
either case your community (most are large apartment buildings or compounds
of buildings) are informed of your status. This to let others know to be
vigilant, and to ensure community helps with enforcement of quarantine and
helps with providing supplies to those who are quarantined. If confirmed,
usually within 24 hours of testing, patients are immediately transferred to
one of two designated hospitals for COVID-19. Or the designated children's
hospital for minors. (at least this is how it is in Shanghai). These
measures are still in place today. It is almost impossible to leave your
home without getting monitored by the entire community. If you show any
signs of symptoms you will go in for testing and check up, and your close
contacts will be identified very quickly and also monitored.
Lastly, China implemented external controls to monitor and quarantine
travelers both from other cities and provinces within China as well as from
abroad.
In summary
Limit the potential exposure to the virus by keeping people away from each
other
For the virus that is out there, disinfect rigorously, kill as much of the
virus that is out in the community as possible to lessen the chance healthy
people will contact the virus in the community. This includes individual
efforts and community based disinfection efforts.
Aggressively find potential cases and their contacts. Increase the already
strict isolation controls on people confirmed, suspected, and potential
contacts of those suspected or confirmed. Have a quick system
Limit movement of people to ensure clusters in one area don't become
clusters in another area. Lockdown cities and communities, quarantine
travelers.
These measures have worked. The proof is here. As said previously, what
amazes me as a westerner was the willingness and the desire of the people to
take these actions and take them seriously. Full scale adoption and
compliance from the people. Absolutely incredible. And this is what it takes.
I hope the west can get it together. I hope they can take this seriously and
act now. I hope the people will respond the way I have seen the Chinese
people respond. China has also shown that early mistakes can be fixed if
addressed and acted upon. Mistakes made now by countries recently impacted
can still do what is necessary to stop the large scale spread.
As always, happy to answer any questions. |
