Displaying items by tag: Wuhan

23 January marked a year since the coronavirus lockdown chaos in Wuhan City when 11 million people were isolated for 76 days as authorities tried to contain the spread of a virus that overwhelmed hospitals and emptied streets. Many now fear it could happen again. China announced sanctions less than half an hour after US president Joe Biden took office. A year on, Yue, a Wuhan resident, said he had almost forgotten the chaos in the early days of that long quarantine, but new outbreaks in Hebei in the north of the country - where millions are again in lockdown - brought it all back. ‘The most miserable thing wasn’t death itself. Trying to get medical treatment was more painful than death. Chinese people have a strong capacity to endure disasters. I survived the Great Famine,’ he said, referring to the catastrophe between 1959 and 1961 that claimed at least 45 million lives.

CSW has called on China to release Christian human rights defender and former lawyer Zhang Zhan, who is on a hunger strike, causing fears for her health, after 150 days in detention. She posted videos and articles from Wuhan about the Covid-19 outbreak. Social media platforms are blocked in China. She questioned whether the authorities' response to the epidemic infringed on human rights, and asked if the severity of the outbreak had been covered up. She was deeply concerned about the voiceless Wuhan citizens who face destitution after losing livelihoods. She is accused of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ and refuses to plead guilty. Zhang’s lawyer met her for the first time in detention on 18 September and reported she was still on a hunger strike and had lost weight. Detention staff are force-feeding her as she refuses to eat or drink anything.

On 11 May Wuhan reported six new coronavirus cases since lockdown was ended, raising concerns about a second wave. The people live in the same residential complex and were previously classified as asymptomatic - people testing positive for the virus and capable of infecting others while not displaying symptoms. Wuhan quickly drew up plans to test its entire population of 11 million people. All districts were told to submit details as to how testing could be done within 10 days. On 13 May China’s media reported that any major increase in numbers as a result of the new testing will raise serious questions over the accuracy and transparency of previous figures. Officials are being accused of covering up the severity of the virus in the earliest stages, and confusion over China's national figures has been created by several shifts in diagnostic and reporting procedures.

As coronavirus ravages the world, many are now watching Wuhan slowly emerging from 2 months complete lockdown - cautiously with masks and gloves moving about.

The world is now in an extraordinary and precarious situation watching what happens in Wuhan for a glimpse of what might lie in store for the rest of us.

Will there be a second coronavirus wave in Wuhan? Almost inevitably yes but how big a wave and are hospitals better prepared.

How will the Chinese government respond to this second wave after mismanagement and misinformation of the first outbreak? Will they keep damaging information secret.

A recent report on the number of ash urns stacked at Wuhan funeral homes put the true death toll over 40,000 not the official 2,500 deaths.

Pray for transparency in communication and sharing of strategies in China and across the nations in order to craft effective responses to unfamiliar challenges.

Pray for competence in the next phase based on honest experience and heaven’s wisdom (Job 6:24)

More at: https://www.gzeromedia.com/watching-wuhan-but-can-you-believe-your-eyes
(Thanks to www.Prayer-Alert.net)

As coronavirus ravages the world, many are now watching Wuhan slowly emerging from two months’ complete lockdown - the population cautiously (with masks and gloves) moving about. The world is now in an extraordinary and precarious situation, watching Wuhan for a glimpse of what might lie in store for the rest of us. Will there be a second coronavirus wave there? Almost inevitably yes, but how big a wave and are hospitals better prepared? How will the Chinese government respond to this second wave, after its mismanagement and misinformation of the first outbreak? Will they keep damaging information secret? A recent report on the number of ash urns stacked at Wuhan funeral homes put the true death toll at over 40,000, not the official 2,500. Pray for transparency in communication and sharing of strategies, in China and across the nations, in order to craft effective responses to unfamiliar challenges. 

Pastor Huang Lei leads a church in Wuhan. The coronavirus crisis makes it impossible for his church to have their usual gatherings, so they are meeting online. They are not just doing church, but being church. ‘First, we have more than 50 groups,’ he says. ‘Almost all the groups are meeting via the internet - praying, studying the Bible, sharing, witnessing, praising and worshipping. Of those 50, we have over 30 groups spending two hours every day to pray, worship, share and testify together. That’s far more frequent than our normal meetings. Of course, now we have more free time; everybody is staying at home, so that’s given us the chance to do this. But we usually have the group meeting weekly and now we’re doing this daily. Sometimes even more, so we are very grateful for that.’

A virus that was first discovered on 31 December in Wuhan now has over 500 confirmed cases and has spread abroad. Anxiety is growing as 11 million people are told not to leave the city and experience lockdown in an attempt to control the spread which is killing people (17 dead, with the toll rapidly rising). Planes and trains in and out of the city are suspended, and no buses, subways, taxis or ferries are running. Millions of Chinese people travel to different destinations for the 25 January lunar New Year holiday. Supermarket shelves were reportedly bare as residents scrambled for supplies, while people took to social media to complain about soaring prices for groceries. The virus, which originated in a seafood market ‘conducting illegal transactions of wild animals’, may have originated in snakes. The centre for infectious disease analysis at Imperial College London estimates that there could be 4,000 people sick with the virus in Wuhan.