WUHAN, China – Benjamin Wilson, a Louisiana native who lives in the Chinese city where the Covid-19 virus was first identified a year ago, is watching the crisis in his country with disappointment.
“I would be very scared if I lived in the United States,” said Wilson, who has lived in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, for almost two decades. “I really didn’t think I would be where I am now, worried more about my family than me.”
The contrast between his homeland and his adopted home is stark, said the English teacher. Although he endured more than 70 days of strict confinement, which at times made him feel almost “trapped”, being indoors was worth the sacrifice, he said.
Now, Wuhan is “one of the safest places in the world,” he added.
More than 338,000 people have died of coronavirus in the United States so far, more than anywhere else in the world and more Americans than were killed in battle during World War II, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Although many health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have warned that the outbreak in the United States is likely to get worse.
President Donald Trump’s government was criticized for disrupting the response to the public health crisis that defined 2020. Trump held unmasked meetings, seemed to promote unproven virus treatments, and later he tested positive himself.
Trump said he had taken the first steps to contain the spread of the virus, including barring the entry of some foreigners, including those traveling from China. Despite this, America remains ahead with the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths on the planet.
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Meanwhile, Wuhan mass-tested his entire 11 million population in June and recently began vaccinating key groups in the city, according to state media.
In China in general, a country of about 1.4 billion people, the government says the virus has killed more than 4,600 people, mostly in Wuhan – although experts say the statistics should be treated with caution.
Earlier this week, a national blood antibody study showed that more than 4% of Wuhan’s 11 million inhabitants may have been exposed to the coronavirus – 10 times the number officially registered in mid-April.
It is undeniable, however, that the virus has had a much more devastating impact on America.
‘Well-treated’ epidemic
A year later, the streets of Wuhan are teeming with activity. A new exhibition filled with photos and interactive screens that pay homage to how Wuhan fought the virus drew thousands of visitors.
Meanwhile, residents say they have to thank government officials for their return to everyday life.
“Now that the epidemic has been well controlled, our lives are gradually returning to normal,” a retiree, Yang Xiuhua, 67, told NBC News.
China channeled national resources and experience to the city, mobilizing around 43,000 medical teams from January to March, according to the Global Times, the country’s largest medical support operation since 1949.
But the specter of the virus still hangs over Wuhan. Li Chuanbi, 70, said that although he can now exercise in the park and meet friends, he remains cautious.
“It would be a lie if I said I am not worried,” he said. “People are concerned that the pandemic will return.”
Many in Wuhan still wear masks, and companies check temperatures and offer disinfectants in this city, which sits beside the Yangtze River. But shops and restaurants are teeming, schools are open and the streets are crowded again.
Surprising photos that demonstrate the rapid recovery have gone viral on social media.
One portrayed swimmers huddled inside a Wuhan water park as a DJ took the stage – an impressive image of the virus’s original epicenter, while Covid-19 continues to turn the lives of billions around the world.
Not without criticism
Still, the way China has dealt with the pandemic has not passed without fierce criticism.
The timeline of the first events faced intense scrutiny and raised questions about whether Beijing acted quickly enough to alert the World Health Organization to the evidence of human transmission.
The first groups of an unexplained disease were reported to the WHO office in Beijing on December 31. Detailed information on “viral pneumonia of unknown cause” was provided on January 3, according to the WHO, with 44 identified patients.
There were also reports that the ruling Chinese Communist Party suppressed information about the virus, with the police disciplining a doctor, Li Wenliang, after he raised the alarm in a chat group. Li later died of Covid-19, sparking public protests. The government posthumously hailed him as a “martyr”.
On January 23, local authorities isolated Wuhan, while other parts of China were also blocked. The drastic response apparently worked, as the city was unlocked months later, in April.
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Another victim of the coronavirus was the already turbulent relations between the US and China, with the pandemic accelerating its decline.
Trump accused the WHO of acting as a “puppet of China” and of not adequately alerting the world about the virus, says the global health agency denies. In July, the United States officially notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from WHO.
Trump has further fueled resentment, often through racist rhetoric, by referring to the pathogen as the “China virus” or “Wuhan virus”.
The White House has also slandered, without providing evidence, that the virus may have been accidentally manufactured or leaked from a Wuhan laboratory, says China denies.
In January 2021, WHO will lead a mission of 10 international Covid-19 investigators in China, with a scheduled visit to Wuhan, health officials said. Among other issues, the fact-finding mission will investigate the origins of the virus.
However, with the divisions between trade and technology, relations between the two largest economies in the world have plummeted since the outbreak. In September, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Washington and Beijing to “do everything to prevent a new Cold War”.
‘Horror story’
Amid worsening relations between the two superpowers, Christopher Suzanne, an American, said he “unequivocally” made the right choice to return to Wuhan during the pandemic, as several of his family members in the United States contracted the virus.
The 34-year-old teacher who has lived in Wuhan since 2009, returned to the city with his family in March, after baptizing his young son in upstate New York.
“Just the feeling of being in Wuhan, it’s like a success story in the middle of a horror story,” he told NBC News.
“For the family, it was extremely difficult to say goodbye, not knowing when or how I could go home and see them again. But the decision in my heart was very easy, ”he said, looking forward to returning to his wife’s family in Wuhan.
Although the blockade was difficult for his mental health, Suzanne said he is now back at work and feels that life is returning to normal.
But he acknowledged that the virus had soured relations between Washington and Beijing.
Looking at the United States from a distance, Suzanne said her American compatriots seemed “so divided” that whoever was in the White House was irrelevant, if people couldn’t agree on the basics of wearing a mask.
“I care about my family,” he said. “It hurts me.”
Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Wuhan; Adela Suliman reported from London.