Wuhan, Which Last Year Faced The COVID-19 Outbreak, Now Can Celebrate The New Year

New Year's (Unsplash) celebration illustration

JAKARTA - A crowd of residents of Wuhan, China took to the streets in the middle of the city to celebrate New Year's Eve last night. They welcomed 2021 with great fanfare, as if they had forgotten that last year their city was the center of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wuhan became the first city to undergo a lockdown due to the spread of COVID-19 between late January and early April.

As per tradition, hundreds of people gather in front of the old Hankow Customs House, one of the most popular New Year's Eve spots in Wuhan. When the building's old clock struck midnight, many people released balloons into the air, cheering and chanting "happy new year."

"I am very, very happy," said tourist Yang Wenxuan. “This is my first time in Wuhan. But it (the countdown) was spectacular. "

"I hope I succeed in obtaining my bachelor's degree and I hope to find a girlfriend," added Yang.

According to a Reuters report, Friday January 1, 2021, there is a lot of police and strict crowd control. Several security personnel were seen admonishing several people who were not wearing masks. But the New Years countdown event seemed to be going well.

Wuhan celebrates the new year exactly 12 months after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it first received news of an unknown pneumonia case. Pneumonia disease is then known as the world's first COVID-19 outbreak.

As of January 3, 2020, a total of 44 patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology were reported to WHO by national authorities in China. Of the 44 cases reported, 11 were seriously ill, while the remaining 33 patients were in stable condition. According to media reports, the market in question in Wuhan was closed on January 1, 2020 for environmental sanitation and disinfection.

National authorities reported that all patients were isolated and received treatment at the Wuhan medical institution. The main clinical sign and symptom is fever, with some patients having difficulty breathing, and chest X-ray showing invasive lesions of both lungs. A year on, WHO experts are scheduled to be in China in January 2021 to investigate the origin of the pandemic.

Wuhan is COVID-19 free

The Wuhan area has been largely coronavirus-free for months. In recent days several specific groups of the local population have been vaccinated.

But the recent small increase in COVID-19 cases in various Chinese cities, including Beijing, reminded people in Wuhan that the pandemic is not over. They then raised their guard a little.

"I hope that in 2021 everything goes well in this country and Wuhan can return to normal and I hope the world can beat the pandemic soon," said Wuhan resident Anson Yang.

The 25-year-old, who works in the international trade sector, said his income had taken a hard hit in 2020. He knows many businesses in Wuhan have not returned to normal trading levels.

Some students also expressed hope that this pandemic would end. So they can continue face-to-face studies.