11,000 Students Graduating Without Masks And Keeping Their Distance: How Can Wuhan Return To Normal While Indonesia Is Deteriorating?
JAKARTA - More than eleven thousand students in Wuhan, China, excitedly celebrated their graduation without masks and social distancing. The event took place on June 13 last week. No health protocol there. Meanwhile, Indonesia yesterday recorded a fantastic number of COVID-19 cases: 20,574. How can Wuhan return to normal while Indonesia's pandemic worsens?
The graduation was held at Central China Normal University. In the SCMP video footage, tens of thousands of students are seen sitting in a row in the middle of a large field. Occasionally they can be seen waving at the camera while smiling without being hindered by masks.
Whereas previously Wuhan was the epicenter of the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, which is believed to be the place where the new Coronavirus was first discovered. Exactly on January 23 last year, the world for the first time saw a lockdown area due to the Coronavirus.
At that time the world was shocked by the strict restrictions and rigid law enforcement. From late January to June, the city was effectively closed off from the rest of China.
Despite spending a huge budget, the method proved very successful in dealing with the virus. The portrait of tens of thousands of graduates was one of the proofs.
We can see other evidence from the data on new COVID-19 cases in China. Looking at the world meter data, from March 6, 2020, to June 25 now, the daily cases have never exceeded one hundred. On average, there were only dozens of new cases in China during that period.
Maybe lockdown is not the only way how China, especially Wuhan, can return to normal as it is now. So what exactly makes Wuhan able to return to normal?
Not because of authoritarianism
People in China are now able to move freely. Perhaps many people believe that Chinese people can enjoy this freedom because of China's authoritarian regime. But according to Chinese Health Academics, Elanah Uretsky the answer to China's success in controlling the pandemic is more than that.
According to his research published in The Conversation, Associate Professor of International and Global Studies, Brandeis University explains, controlling the virus in China is not the result of authoritarian policies, but national health priorities. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, China had learned a hard lesson from the spread of the SARS outbreak.
In the early days of the outbreak, the new coronavirus infected more than 80,000 people in Wuhan in three months and killed 3,000. The local government immediately took quick steps, namely carrying out a total lockdown.
Things got worse when China's medical capacity began to be overwhelmed. Then the authorities shocked the world because they managed to set up a huge hospital in just a few days.
The method used in Wuhan, namely lockdown and mass testing, is then applied routinely in other areas such as Beijing and Shanghai. This happens within months.
Seven months after the Wuhan lockdown, China confirmed an additional 9,100 cases and recorded another 1,407 deaths from COVID-19. But after that things started to get better. Chinese citizens have started to be able to travel, eat in restaurants and go to the cinema. While the children go to school without too strict health protocols.
The new variant of corona still threatens
Meanwhile, Epidemiologist from the Center for Environmental and Population Health Griffith University, Australia, Dicky Budiman said why Wuhan could be relatively normal is the result of previous large victims. According to Dicky, one of the biggest factors why the Coronavirus can be controlled there is because of the strong response of the authorities.
"The lockdown has already been done twice if I'm not mistaken. The testing was extraordinary. When there was an assumption, all residents were tested without exception, 11 million were tested. So don't look at how good it is now, the response is also extraordinary," said Dicky to VOI.
Although Wuhan is now relatively normal, it does not mean that China is free from the threat of the new variant of the Coronavirus. The proof is that at the end of May, China lockdown an area in Guangzhou City. This is because the city, which is home to nearly 15 million people, reported 20 new cases of COVID-19 in a week.
The government took swift steps by ordering residents not to leave their homes until house-to-house COVID-19 testing was completed. Markets, schools, and entertainment venues were closed.
"There is still the potential for transmission. So China itself is not safe. Nothing is safe, especially when it comes to delta variants", said Dicky.
What can be learned
However, when compared to Indonesia, China's condition is much better. As we know, as of June 24 yesterday, the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose sharply to reach 20,574.
According to Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Epidemiologist, Bayu Satria Wiratama, the trend of increasing COVID-19 cases in Indonesia is not only caused by the new variant. According to him, people are starting to neglect health protocols.
In addition to ignorant people, the government is also considered less than optimal in implementing 3T, namely testing, tracing, and treatment. "The increase is reasonable because 3T is lacking and people are ignoring 5M", said Bayu, as quoted by the UGM website.
So, is there anything Indonesia can learn from China's handling of the virus?
Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman said that what can be learned from China is nothing but a firm, fast, strong, and science-based response. In addition, the massive 3T from China, according to Dicky, is also worth emulating.
"What is clear is that we can learn a firm, fast, strong response based on science. The response supported by this center has an impact on speeding recovery. Yes, although there are still shortcomings such as data transparency that is an issue. But other than that the response is good. With 3T massive, then 5M too," he concluded.
*Read other information about COVID-19 or other interesting articles from Ramdan Febrian Arifin.
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