China halted the coronavirus using a ‘social nuclear weapon’ of extreme measures that Western countries will struggle to replicate, an expert has warned.
His comments come as the virus which originated in Wuhan is spreading rapidly in Europe and has forced Italy to place the entire country on lockdown.
Meanwhile President Xi Jinping told reporters today the illness had been ‘basically curbed’ in Hubei province and Wuhan. China has 80,754 confirmed infections and a death tally of 3,136.
Nicholas A. Christakis, Sterling Professor of Social & Natural Science at Yale University, took to Twitter yesterday to explain how China’s totalitarian regime has managed to rapidly de-escalate the threat of COVID-19 within its borders, and why democratic countries will struggle to do the same.
Christakis argues that China’s unique collectivist culture, and authoritarian government, have allowed it to combat the disease quickly and efficiently.
He cited China’s ‘deeply impressive’ ability to impose movement restrictions on provinces of over 930 million people to prevent the spread of the virus, an astonishing measure which he argued would ‘not be easy to reproduce’ in the US and elsewhere.
A measure taken by the Chinese government to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus has been to divide elevators into four, to prevent people being too close to each other. Pictured: One of the elevators in an undated photograph
A sign (pictured) in the elevator reads: ‘Let’s unite together to fight the virus in this special period’
Christiakis, pictured here at Harvard in 2007, has argued that China’s unique collectivist culture, and authoritarian government, have allowed it to combat the disease quickly and efficiently
‘Of course, China has a collectivist culture and an authoritarian government, both of which have allowed this enormous, widespread response. It is well suited to fight a pandemic, if it indeed takes in factual information and responds rationally,’ Christiakis tweeted.
He continued to marvel at the authoritarian regime’s ability to put large swathes of the population on lockdown. ‘Beginning January 23, they imposed movement restrictions (typically with people staying at home, leaving just once a week) on provinces with >930M people!’ he said.
‘The imposition of such public health measures on such a scale for such a duration has never been seen before…
‘Most Chinese cities are still implementing these types of quarantine at the community-level, now over *six weeks* in, depending on the severity level of the situation in their cities. This is called ‘closed-off management’ by the government and media.’
According to Christiakis, ‘closed-off management’ includes such draconian measures as checking the movement of people and vehicles with an exit-entrance permit, checking body temperatures upon entrance to a community, the disinfection of vehicles, food delivery, and permits for only one person per household to leave the property.
Permits, being used by millions in China, are emblazoned with collectivist slogans. ‘It is everyone’s responsibility to fight the virus,’ this one reads
In early February, at least 48 cities and four provinces in China went further, issuing official notices for lockdown policies, with measures ranging from ‘closed-off management’, where residents of a community have to be registered before they are allowed in or out, to restrictions that shut down highways, railways and public transport systems
A passenger has his temperature checked at Changsha railway station in Changsha today
Christiakis traces China’s success back to January 23, when the People’s Party imposed movement restrictions on provinces of over 930 million people.
In early February, at least 48 cities and four provinces in China went further, issuing official notices for lockdown policies, with measures ranging from ‘closed-off management’, where residents of a community have to be registered before they are allowed in or out, to restrictions that shut down highways, railways and public transport systems.
‘[Closed-off management may] include: movement of people & vehicles is checked with an exit-entrance permit[sic]; body temperature at entrance of community is checked; disinfection of vehicles; food delivery; permits for only one person per household to go out,’ Christiakis said.
The permits printed for the purpose of moving around the city, Christakis said, are stamped with Chinese collectivist slogans, such as ‘It is everyone’s responsibility to fight the virus’.
Another aspect of ‘closed-off management’ is the redirection of the labour force to serve the citizens trapped indoors.
In many regions, workers are being retrained and redirected to deliver food to the public.
In some cities, people can only shop with a permit, or only one member of the family can leave the property, Christakis said.
A picture released by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV through its official Weibo account shows President Xi delivering a speech at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan this morning
Children are now being taught from the safety of their home from Skype.
China is gradually lifting restrictions but officials are beginning to implement planning for the future, with inventive ideas being rolled out across the country, Christiakis said.
One example is the sectioning of elevators into four equal parts, so that people keep an appropriate distance from each other.
In the lift, the sign reads: ‘No more than four people in the elevator. Please be patient and wait for the next elevator.’
A galvanising message below reads: ‘Let’s unite together to fight the virus in this special period.’
China’s unique political and social environment is what has helped it to combat the virus so efficiently, Christakis claimed.
He said the US will struggle to mirror this with the tools at its disposal. ‘The USA must prepare to combat the virus using tools at its disposal. It will not be easy,’ the professor said.
Wuhan’s last makeshift coronavirus hospital closes today
A worker sets up beds at the Wuchang ‘fang cang’ hospital inside Hongshan Gymnasium on February 4
The last of Wuhan’s 14 makeshift ‘fang cang’ hospitals closed today after treating 1,124 coronavirus patients, according to officials.
The Wuchang ‘fang cang’ hospital, which had been converted from Hongshan Gymnasium, discharged its last 49 patients at a closing ceremony, said the Wuhan government through its official social media account.
Wuchang hospital was the first ‘fang cang’ facility to open in the city. It started to receive patients from February 5 and operated continuously for 34 days.
A total of 833 patients recovered after being treated there and 291 people were transferred to other medical facilities, authorities announced.
The city’s health authorities ordered workers to turn sports halls and exhibition centres into temporary coronavirus medical centres on February 3.
Fourteen such facilities were set up, treating more than 12,000 people who suffered minor coronavirus infections.
On March 1, the ‘fang cang’ hospitals in Wuhan Gymnasium in Qiaokou District became the first makeshift facility to close.
Two others shut on March 6 and March 8 respectively and another two discharged their last patients yesterday.