At the same time, I visited a few friends and relatives nearby, including one cousin who came back from Wuhan a few days before my visit (of course I asked him about it, he said he checked with a doctor and all seemed fine). Based on what I saw, I felt that the locals all seemed relaxed about the seemingly severe situation---continuing shopping for the festival, family gathering, and playing Majiang.
Everything started to change on the 24th (one day before the Lunar New Year). At lunchtime, a friend in my town sent me a picture of a notice released by the municipal government announcing public buses and ferry services would be suspended in a few hours. 22 minutes before the Lunar New Year, the municipal government via its official website announced that the whole city would be placed on travelling restrictions and the lockdown of train stations starting from 6 a.m. 25th. Further restrictions were implemented in the next days, and eventually, we were advised to stay indoors.
While being "trapped" at home, I had more time to go through online discussions, respond to concerns from friends, and, of course, ask friends and relatives in Wuhan and other cities of Hubei about their situations. Very soon, I realized that most of my friends and relatives in Hubei were not really worried although they were to a large extent immobilized as well. For them, life went on as usual in spite of some inconveniences for recreational activities and grocery shopping. On the contrary, many of those who are out of Hubei kindly reminded/warned that I should take the situation seriously, and some were even terrified by what they read from online posts. Later, online discussions also questioned why people in Hubei were not taking the situation as seriously as people out of Hubei, many of whom were filled with sensational panic, fear, mistrust, and even outrage.
One chat with a friend was representative of the concerns that I learned from many. After I told her that I was doing fine and people in my town seemed not worried much about the situation, she asked if I would say that people were in denial or stopped caring about what the government would say. I immediately replied with a “No" and added that this time I prefered to trust the government based on my personal experience and what I know of friends and relatives who were involved in fighting the virus. Then, she questioned what I would trust about the government----the numbers of death provided, the promise of a cure, or that the situation was not as bad. Also, she mentioned that there were deleted posts on social media like Douban that showed bodies were being cremated without diagnoses and reminded me that there were suggestions that the way the government count of the numbers were problematic and belief that the numbers were underreported. I replied that I could also question how trustworthy those posts were, and asked her what might be a better alternative for reliable information if we had doubts on the government sources. Sadly, she did not provide an answer to my question and only said she knew there were many sides to a story. Without doubts what she said is true, but I insisted that this time I would stick with the official sources.
Her chat, from my understanding, reflected an attitude of scepticism, even a conspiracy mentality, which I found not uncommon among online discussants; however, my first-hand experience from the epidemic zone said otherwise. A few confirmed cases and several suspected cases have been identified in my town, one of which was not too far from my residence. The case nearby was a suspected returnee from Wuhan without obvious symptoms, but one family member exhibited pneumonia-like symptoms. The local hospital reached his residence timely, then transferred him and the family member to one of the designated hospitals in the city, and requested the rest of the family members to stay in quarantine at home. Through what I learned from local WeChat groups, messages, and phone calls, the rest of the family were not scared or demanding of being hospitalized, and still, their neighbours did not seem to be worried much about being infected. Later, I learned that a doctor was assigned to visit his house once a day checking their body temperatures. After the ambulance left, a fire engine sprayed disinfectant in the area. I felt uncertain when seeing the ambulance and then called a relative working closely with the local CDC office from the local hospital. He said everything was under control and there was no need to worry about anything, the same as what the town office released.
However, the question of whether we were ignorant of what was really going on was raised by myself. One thing I knew for sure was that what we had witnessed in this small town were real, which, perhaps, could contribute to the locals feeling at ease. Also, most people in this small town were not following as closely the diversified online updates as many netheads did. For me, as well as the locals in this town and even friends & relatives in Wuhan, although the virus was still unknown and its risks unpredictable, we did not feel much uncertainty as those who were informed mostly by non-firsthand knowledge and understandings & interpretations of particular cases. Perhaps, the real question to ask was what we intrinsically were worried about or scared of --- the virus itself or uncertainties incurred by the unknown?
Interestingly, the National Health Commission on the 3rd urged the public to stay calm, be optimistic and confident; on the same day, CCTV also released various channels for psychological counselling to the public. Were we really scared of the uncertainties incurred by the unknown, are we participating in and witnessing the greatest mass hysteria (or panic epidemic) throughout human history when looking at the unprecedented scale of lockdown/restrictions and the preposterous craziness going on within and out of this country? Perhaps, the hysteria/panic epidemic was ample justification for locking down a city with a population of over 11 million and even a province with a population of over 58 million. Were we to make the whole situation better, would it be better to be cautious and actively work on solutions instead of being paranoid or worried/scared to death?
p.s. Now, probably people of Hubei who are out of Hubei may relate to how people of Xinjiang have been treated in many cities (I don't really know what I am talking about 😷).
Everything started to change on the 24th (one day before the Lunar New Year). At lunchtime, a friend in my town sent me a picture of a notice released by the municipal government announcing public buses and ferry services would be suspended in a few hours. 22 minutes before the Lunar New Year, the municipal government via its official website announced that the whole city would be placed on travelling restrictions and the lockdown of train stations starting from 6 a.m. 25th. Further restrictions were implemented in the next days, and eventually, we were advised to stay indoors.
While being "trapped" at home, I had more time to go through online discussions, respond to concerns from friends, and, of course, ask friends and relatives in Wuhan and other cities of Hubei about their situations. Very soon, I realized that most of my friends and relatives in Hubei were not really worried although they were to a large extent immobilized as well. For them, life went on as usual in spite of some inconveniences for recreational activities and grocery shopping. On the contrary, many of those who are out of Hubei kindly reminded/warned that I should take the situation seriously, and some were even terrified by what they read from online posts. Later, online discussions also questioned why people in Hubei were not taking the situation as seriously as people out of Hubei, many of whom were filled with sensational panic, fear, mistrust, and even outrage.
One chat with a friend was representative of the concerns that I learned from many. After I told her that I was doing fine and people in my town seemed not worried much about the situation, she asked if I would say that people were in denial or stopped caring about what the government would say. I immediately replied with a “No" and added that this time I prefered to trust the government based on my personal experience and what I know of friends and relatives who were involved in fighting the virus. Then, she questioned what I would trust about the government----the numbers of death provided, the promise of a cure, or that the situation was not as bad. Also, she mentioned that there were deleted posts on social media like Douban that showed bodies were being cremated without diagnoses and reminded me that there were suggestions that the way the government count of the numbers were problematic and belief that the numbers were underreported. I replied that I could also question how trustworthy those posts were, and asked her what might be a better alternative for reliable information if we had doubts on the government sources. Sadly, she did not provide an answer to my question and only said she knew there were many sides to a story. Without doubts what she said is true, but I insisted that this time I would stick with the official sources.
Her chat, from my understanding, reflected an attitude of scepticism, even a conspiracy mentality, which I found not uncommon among online discussants; however, my first-hand experience from the epidemic zone said otherwise. A few confirmed cases and several suspected cases have been identified in my town, one of which was not too far from my residence. The case nearby was a suspected returnee from Wuhan without obvious symptoms, but one family member exhibited pneumonia-like symptoms. The local hospital reached his residence timely, then transferred him and the family member to one of the designated hospitals in the city, and requested the rest of the family members to stay in quarantine at home. Through what I learned from local WeChat groups, messages, and phone calls, the rest of the family were not scared or demanding of being hospitalized, and still, their neighbours did not seem to be worried much about being infected. Later, I learned that a doctor was assigned to visit his house once a day checking their body temperatures. After the ambulance left, a fire engine sprayed disinfectant in the area. I felt uncertain when seeing the ambulance and then called a relative working closely with the local CDC office from the local hospital. He said everything was under control and there was no need to worry about anything, the same as what the town office released.
However, the question of whether we were ignorant of what was really going on was raised by myself. One thing I knew for sure was that what we had witnessed in this small town were real, which, perhaps, could contribute to the locals feeling at ease. Also, most people in this small town were not following as closely the diversified online updates as many netheads did. For me, as well as the locals in this town and even friends & relatives in Wuhan, although the virus was still unknown and its risks unpredictable, we did not feel much uncertainty as those who were informed mostly by non-firsthand knowledge and understandings & interpretations of particular cases. Perhaps, the real question to ask was what we intrinsically were worried about or scared of --- the virus itself or uncertainties incurred by the unknown?
Interestingly, the National Health Commission on the 3rd urged the public to stay calm, be optimistic and confident; on the same day, CCTV also released various channels for psychological counselling to the public. Were we really scared of the uncertainties incurred by the unknown, are we participating in and witnessing the greatest mass hysteria (or panic epidemic) throughout human history when looking at the unprecedented scale of lockdown/restrictions and the preposterous craziness going on within and out of this country? Perhaps, the hysteria/panic epidemic was ample justification for locking down a city with a population of over 11 million and even a province with a population of over 58 million. Were we to make the whole situation better, would it be better to be cautious and actively work on solutions instead of being paranoid or worried/scared to death?
p.s. Now, probably people of Hubei who are out of Hubei may relate to how people of Xinjiang have been treated in many cities (I don't really know what I am talking about 😷).
http://www.yichang.gov.cn/html/zhengwuyizhantong/zhengwuzixun/gongshigonggao/2020/0124/1017201.html
Comments
Post a Comment