Harsh 'Zero COVID' Policy... Partial Lockdown of Downtown Wuhan, China, the 'COVID-19 Origin'

Stay-at-Home Order Issued in Hanyang-gu with 900,000 Residents After COVID-19 Cases Detected
All Businesses Closed Except Essential Services Like Supermarkets and Pharmacies

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] Chinese authorities are continuing their strict 'zero-COVID' policy by imposing lockdown measures on certain areas of Wuhan, Hubei Province.

According to Bloomberg on the 27th, local authorities instructed residents not to go outside and to stay at home from the 26th to the 30th, and ordered all businesses except essential ones such as supermarkets and pharmacies to close. The lockdown area is Hanyang District in Wuhan, where 900,000 people reside.

In Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, 18 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed the previous day. Since the outbreak, Wuhan, which was the first city to be fully locked down, had almost no infections due to its strong 'zero-COVID' policy. However, recent reports indicate an increase in infection cases again.

Starting in December 2019, a severe respiratory illness similar to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) spread mainly among merchants at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan. At that time, local authorities downplayed and concealed the situation and responded lukewarmly, missing the opportunity to control the spread of the disease early.

Even in January 2020, when dozens of patients with an unknown pneumonia appeared, Wuhan authorities explained that "there is no human-to-human transmission. It is controllable and preventable" (人不傳人 可控可防), and held a large-scale New Year's celebration with 40,000 households participating just before the Spring Festival (Chunje, the Chinese New Year) holiday, as in previous years. This event is believed to have contributed to the spread of COVID-19 from Wuhan to China and the rest of the world.

As the situation escalated, China dismissed Ma Guoqiang, the Party Secretary of Wuhan at the time, but also forced Dr. Li Wenliang (1986?2020), who posted about the COVID-19 outbreak in social media chat rooms, to write a self-criticism letter accusing him of spreading rumors, showing a contradictory approach.

However, Chinese authorities appointed Ma Guoqiang, who was dismissed as the person responsible during the COVID-19 outbreak, to the position of Deputy Director of the Hubei Provincial People's Congress in January, and last month promoted him to a member of the 19th Central Committee at the 7th Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee (7th Plenum).

Western countries are demanding a thorough investigation, stating that the inappropriate response by Chinese authorities starting with the Wuhan pneumonia led to the global spread of COVID-19, causing years of suffering worldwide. In response to these demands, the Chinese government has instead asserted that its bold measures, including the Wuhan lockdown, have contributed to preventing further spread.

Meanwhile, President Xi Jinping, in his opening speech at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party on the 16th, highly praised the achievements of the strict COVID-19 prevention policies and indicated a commitment to maintaining the 'zero-COVID' policy.