“A desperate plea from an ordinary citizen in China: somebody please do something"
This is life under the complete control of the Chinese Communist Party. Entire cities quarantined. No entry, no exit- "There would have been social outcries if this happened in any other Western country, but just because there isn’t an outcry in China doesn’t make its people lesser people who shouldn’t be treated any less. If anything, it shows how deeply the population has been culturally and politically suppressed, and how the voice of the really poor in China gets completely buried and forgotten. This just isn’t right.”
“In a crisis like this, it hurts me so much to see that it’s (once again) the well-off who get priority and consideration. Those who actually do not have the ability or resources to take care of themselves inevitably get left behind. Government policies are understandably a combination of politics, economics, sociology, and international relations. But equality to health gets thrown out of the picture in the middle of all these, even in scholarship. This cannot be right. The top health journals should be redirected toward a more compassionate and sensitive discourse.
The Lancet please do something, somebody
please do something. In a practical sense, the government cares about its
‘face’ more than anything; if there was a prominent international voice calling
for it to look into something it just might...and that’s all that the
suppressed and the poor have for hope. So please, help. I understand this
might be an effort in vain, but I really hope it is not. So here it is, a
desperate plea, and I really hope this message sees you in good
time.”
By Richard Horton, in The Lancet: One aspect of the 2019 coronavirus outbreak has been surprisingly overlooked. What
is life like for those quarantined in Chinese cities? Here is an extract from one correspondent, received on Feb 2, in an email entitled, “A desperate plea from an ordinary citizen in China”. I have edited the text only slightly for clarity.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30299-3/fulltext“In a crisis like this, it hurts me so much to see that it’s (once again) the well-off who get priority and consideration. Those who actually do not have the ability or resources to take care of themselves inevitably get left behind. Government policies are understandably a combination of politics, economics, sociology, and international relations. But equality to health gets thrown out of the picture in the middle of all these, even in scholarship. This cannot be right. The top health journals should be redirected toward a more compassionate and sensitive discourse.
“Currently, there are
at least five cities, including Wuhan, that have suspended the public transport
system; ten provinces and cities, including Hubei and Beijing, that have shut
down road passenger transport; 16 provinces that have suspended
inter-provincial passenger transport; and many cities in 28 provinces that have
completely or partially suspended urban public transportation. Yesterday,
Huanggang issued a notice ordering a house quarantine for all urban households,
allowing only a designated family member to shop for essentials once in every 2
days.
The news and constant updates include messages from my local government
telling me that many cities have made it mandatory to wear a mask in public or
for using public transport. But masks have sold out so quickly in many smaller
cities (and online as well), while prices have gone up 20 times. In short, if
you are poor, you’re more than likely to not get a mask at all—and it's usually
the poor who cannot afford to stop working.”
“At 7:30 pm
yesterday, Hangzhou became the first city in China to issue a free mask policy
for its citizens in seven urban districts to alleviate the problem that has
been the elephant in the room, with an online reservation system for five masks
for each person every 10 days. Even Wuhan hasn’t implemented any government
policy like this to help its citizens. So access to masks largely depends on donations
and self-help by local communities.
The bottom line is, a large population in
China is suffering, not just from the virus but from the resulting isolation,
high uncertainty, anxiety, and stress, reduced resources and freedom for daily
living, and loss of income. And the point on income really should be
considered. With weak social protection in China, in conjunction with the
estimate of 60% of labour engaged in the informal economy in Asian and Pacific
developing countries (according to the International Labour Organization), lack
of employment benefits and protection renders people extremely vulnerable to
crises, such as the current one.
There would have been social outcries if this
happened in any other Western country, but just because there isn’t an outcry
in China doesn’t make its people lesser people who shouldn’t be treated any
less. If anything, it shows how deeply the population has been culturally and
politically suppressed, and how the voice of the really poor in China gets
completely buried and forgotten. This just isn’t right.”... read more:
The workers striving behind the scenes to combat the coronavirus in Wuhan
Yuli Yang: A love letter to Wuhan, from a resilient local watching from afar //Chinese people are enduring coronavirus like everyone else. Don’t traumatise us further
Yuli Yang: A love letter to Wuhan, from a resilient local watching from afar //Chinese people are enduring coronavirus like everyone else. Don’t traumatise us further
