Dear Reader:

The world coronavirus cases is approaching 3 millions, deaths just above 200 thousands. Over 840 thousand people recovered from Covid-19 so far. Of the less than 2 million people sick with Covid-19, 97% experience mild symptoms and 3% experience serious or critical symptoms.

China, where it started: there are currently 801 people infected with Covid-19. The number of recovered people is 96.6 times greater than the number of people who are currently infected, and 16.7 times the number of people who died. So far, 4,632 people died in China of Covid-19.

The total cases graph started flattening Feb 18 and it appears almost flat since March 1. The daily new cases graph shows its greatest spike on Feb 12 with 14,108 new cases on that day, a 5 digit number. It went down to a 4 digit number the next day (5,090), almost half of that the next day, and lesser since. There were 143 new cases on March 5, 99 new cases on March 6, 44 new cases March 7, lesser two digit numbers all through a small spike of 108 new cases on April 12, then back to 2-digits. The next 3-digit spike was 325 new cases on April 17, then back to 2-digits, and 11 new cases today. The active cases graph peaked Feb 17 and currently and for some time, looks flat.

January 10, the first death and 41 confirmed cases were reported in Wuhan. By Jan 22, the virus spread to major cities and provinces in China (571 cases, 17 deaths), plus cases were reported in other countries, from Hong Kong to the United States.

On January 23, the central government of China imposed a lockdown in Wuhan (the capital of the central China province called Hubei, the most populous city in Central China with a population over 11 millions) and other cities in Hubei  in an effort to quarantine the center of the outbreak. This action is commonly referred to as the “Wuhan lockdown”. The WHO called the lockdown “unprecedented in public health history”. Travel restriction were imposed in between all the cities in Hubei, affecting about 57 million people. All public transport were suspended (buses, railways, flights, ferry services). Wuhan residents were not allowed to leave the city without permission from authorities (about 300,000 residents left Wuhan by train alone before the 10 am lockdown, a mass exodus). Major highways leaving Wuhan were shut down. All  non-essential companies were shut down.

On Feb 2, a 7-day lockdown was implemented in which only one person per household was allowed to exit once each two days, and in which most of the highway exists were closed.

Many areas across China (207 cities by Feb 12) implemented what is called “close management”: villages and communities kept one entrance and exit point open, and each household was allowed limited numbers (none in extreme cases) of entrances and exits. People entering and leaving were required to wear masks and receive temperature tests.

On March 13, a couple of Hubei’s cities removed some of their strict travel restrictions. On March 25, Hubei lifted the lockdown outside of Wuhan, and on April 8, the Wuhan lockdown officially ended.

www. cnn. com/ 2020/04/23/ asia/ Wuhan-coronavirus-after-lockdown:

Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the pandemic: the first known cases of the virus were detected there in mid December 2019. It was the first city in the world to go into lockdown. The lockdown  lasted 76 days, and was lifted on April 8. Two weeks after the lifting, restaurants offer takeaway food and are not allowed eat-in dining.  Many stores, including Starbucks have moved their goods and services out onto the sidewalk to avoid the need for  customers to congregate inside. Barbers offer their services outdoors. Gyms are closed. Even after businesses reopened, there are not many customers. Walking down the street, almost everyone continued to practice social distancing.

“there is nothing of the packed bustle which once- characterized Wuhan. For every opened shopfront, there is another one shuttered.. Checking into their hotel, the CNN team were required to give their travel history and had their temperature taken, before being sprayed down with disinfectant. by the hotel workers”.

*Other resources for this post: worldometers and Wikipedia.

anita