Wuhan Battle Against COVID-19 in Retrospect

By Cai Zhaoyang, Cheng Rongxing, Li Mo & Yu Jinyi

At the turn of the Year of the Rat 2020, a novel coronavirus outbreak quietly emerged in Wuhan. The disease is characterized by unnoticed early symptoms, high contagiousness, long incubation period, difficulty in diagnosis, and an unknown source of transmission...

The city, known as a gateway to nine provinces, was about to welcome the annual Spring Festival travel rush of the largest population migration in the world. Here, a 4-hour high-speed train trip starting from Wuhan can cover nearly 1 billion population and 90% of the economic aggregate in China.

If the epidemic was to spread across the country, the consequences could have been catastrophic.

City lockdown: a heroic endeavor to safeguard the whole country

At 10 o’clock on the morning of January 23, Wuhan, a city with a population of ten million, was put under an unprecedented lockdown. All the airports, train stations, coach stations, and expressways were closed to stop outbound travels. City transportation including buses, subways, and taxis were suspended. The movement of vehicles were controlled...

Few cars pass over the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge on January 27, 2020 (Photo by Cheng Min)1月27日，少量汽车从武汉长江大桥上驶过（程敏 摄）

According toScience, the world’s top academic journal, Wuhan lockdown, the largest quarantine in human history, played a crucial role in the containment of the epidemic.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, praised Wuhan: “The high speed and massive scale of China’s response are rarely seen in the world. It shows the advantage of China’s system. The experience of China is worth learning for other countries. I believe the measures China has taken will effectively control and finally prevail over the epidemic.”

Treatment: medical staff in white fighting the epidemic

At this critical time, numerous heroes in white stepped forward, regardless of their own safety and remuneration. Not a single hospital or medical worker ever backed down.

Academician Zhong Nanshan钟南山院士

Academician Li Lanjuan李兰娟院士

Liu Zhiming, Zhang Jixian, Zhang Dingyu, Wu Jianli, and a lot more pioneers like them made numerous wonders in the fight against the epidemic. Behind them stood over 60,000 medical staff, with no fear of hardships, and proceeding without hesitation. When the city suffered from the shortage of hospital beds, Wuhan mobilized all the staff of its medical system, quickly requisitioned and repurposed 55 hospitals in order to treat patients with fever.

庚子鼠年，岁末年初，新冠病毒感染肺炎疫情悄然侵袭武汉。该疫起病隐匿、传染性强、潜伏期长、确诊困难、传播源未知……

而这座素有“九省通衢”之称的城市，即将迎来一年一度最大规模的人口迁徙——春运。以这里为圆心，在高铁时代以4 小时走1000公里为半径，其覆盖面可达我国大约10 亿人口和90%的经济总量。

一旦疫情在全国蔓延，后果将不堪设想。

果断封城防扩散

1月23日上午10 时，武汉这座千万级人口城市，史无前例地毅然“封城”：全部关闭机场、火车站、长途客运站、高速公路等离汉通道；暂停运营公交、地铁、出租车等城市交通；车辆出行管制……

《科学》杂志评价，作为人类历史上最大的隔离事件，武汉封城对疫情的遏制起到了至关重要的作用。世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞评价：“中方行动速度之快、规模之大，世所罕见，这是中国的制度优势，有关经验值得其他国家借鉴，相信中国采取的措施将有效控制并最终战胜疫情。”

白衣执甲战疫魔

面对疫情，全城医护人员不计生死、不论报酬，没有一家医院、一名医护人员临阵退缩。刘智明、张继先、张定宇、彭志勇、乌剑利等一大批医者先锋和6 万余名武汉医护人员，创造了无数奇迹；55家医院迅速改造，集中接诊发热患者。

1月23日、25日，火神山医院、雷神山医院相继破土兴建。寒风凛冽之中，数万名建设者火速集结，千余台机械设备同时作业，日夜鏖战。不到半月，火神山、雷神山竣工收治。

2月初，武汉以每1.5 天改造一座方舱医院的速度与病魔竞速。一个月内，武汉增加床位6 万多张，实现了从“人等床”到“床等人”的重要转折。

Far into the night a community worker still sorting files of reidential households深夜，一名社区工作人员在整理居民材料

党中央、中央军委一声号召，全国30 个省市自治区、新疆生产建设兵团和人民解放军42000 多名医务人员迅速集结，组成300 多支医疗队，支援湖北；全国各地医疗物资迅速向湖北传递。钟南山、李兰娟、张伯礼等院士，年逾古稀，临危受命，领衔战斗在一线……

星夜驰援保供应

战“疫”之初，防护服、呼吸机、护目镜等防护物资全面告急，医护人员用垃圾袋自制防护服，用硬塑料皮制作防护面罩，甚至戴着泳镜进入感染区……

25 个省市、31 家重点企业以及2000 多家配套零部件企业工人结束休假，火速返岗，恢复保障医疗设备生产。阿里集团投入10 亿元全世界范围内采购医疗物资，定点支援武汉医疗机构。卓尔集团6 天时间内采购了300 万个医用口罩、30 万只N95 口罩、近30 万件防护服、32000 副护目镜……一大批企业家、社会爱心人士和国外华人华侨，纷纷解囊相助；为保障医护人员生活，提振患者信心，90后武汉女孩华雨辰，站在塑料小凳上为大家广播；东西湖区快递小哥汪勇，每天接送医护人员；40 岁的新冠肺炎治愈者翁江捐出自己带着抗体与希望的血浆……

The once hustling and bustling Jiefang Avenue in Wuhan is now empty with only one ambulance on the way热闹的解放大道此时只能看到一辆救护车

近千万市民坚守家中，民生亟待保障。2月中旬，首批2000 吨中央储备库冻猪肉运抵武汉。约2 万吨蔬果，半个月内从山东、安徽、江西、河南、湖南、重庆、广西、云南等8 个省区市调运武汉。天河机场、三大火车站、阳逻港等各码头，各地运送来的“生命给养”堆积如山

On January 23 and 25, the construction of Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital started respectively. Amidst the piercing cold wind, tens of thousands of construction workers were quickly summoned up and started operation with more than 1000 machines. In less than half a month, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan, the two hospitals dedicated for COVID-19 patients sprung up from the ground.

In early February, Wuhan built makeshift hospitals at a speed of one new hospital every 1.5 days. Within one month, more than 60,000 beds were added in Wuhan, marking an important turning point from the state of patients waiting for beds to beds waiting for patients.

In Wuhan Sports Center Makeshift Hospital, staff inspecting hygienic condition in the ward corridor (Photo by Ke Hao)武汉体育中心方舱医院，保洁人员在病房走廊巡查卫生状况 （柯皓 摄）

To answer the call of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, more than 300 medical assistance teams made up of over 42,000 medical workers from 30 provinces, centrally-administered municipalities, autonomous regions, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and the People’s Liberation Army were quickly assembled and marched towards Hubei and Wuhan. Medical supplies were sent to Hubei from all over China. Academicians Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan, and Zhang Boli, all over 70, joined the mission at the very moment, and led the fight at the front line.

Material supply: materials pour into Wuhan from all directions

The situation in Wuhan was hardly optimistic at the initial stage in the war against the epidemic.

Wuhan was in urgent need of medical supplies. In shortage of protective suits, ventilators, protective goggles, some medical workers even wore garbage bags, self-made masks and swimming goggles in the “red zone.”

In this Spring Festival, workers from 25 provinces, 31 key enterprises, and more than 2,000 component producers ended their vacation and rushed back to their posts to restore the production of medical equipment. Alibaba Group set aside 1 billion yuan for global procurement of medical supplies and sent the materials to medical institutions in Wuhan. Zall Group purchased 3 million medical masks, 300,000 N95 respirators, nearly 300,000 pieces of protective clothing, and 32,000 pairs of protective goggles within 6 days... A large number of entrepreneurs, warm-hearted people, and overseas Chinese made generous donations to support Wuhan.。

Volunteers carrying donated vegetables 志愿者们搬运外地捐来的蔬菜

“线上下单+社区团购+配送到小区”的生活物资供应模式迅速建立，一端串起商超，一端对接千家万户。疫情无法外出务工，低收入群体生活困难，武汉五大商超推出“10 元10 斤”的特价蔬菜包。孤寡老人等特殊家庭，社区有专人联络照顾。社区工作人员、党员干部、志愿者、物业职工接力，把物资分发到居民家中。数百万家庭的餐桌从未告急。

严防死守阻传播

彻底斩断病毒传播链条，社区成为“武汉保卫战”第二战场。2月11日起，全市所有住宅小区封闭，近千万武汉人民自觉紧闭家门。无数社区工作者、下沉干部、公安干警与志愿者一道，筑起一道道健康“堤坝”，服务小区居民生活。

年届花甲的社区书记胡明荣每天接打近600 个电话，带领近百人的团队服务近万人的社区；清晨5点，网格员丰枫就出门帮居民买药，几十个药袋子串在一起、挂在身上，被称为“药袋哥”；社区“临时书记”黄恒每天处理近300 起住户诉求，累到腰椎间盘旧疾复发，只能躺在办公室的硬地板上安排工作、接打电话；民警吴涌连续奋战61天，劳累过度，牺牲在岗位上，年仅51 岁；环卫工满彩美，每天清理十几个重症病房的垃圾，防护服里都是汗水。

他们都在平凡的岗位上绽放出人生的精彩。

复产复工见希望

经过艰苦卓绝的努力，武汉接连传来好消息：

3月18日以来，武汉市连续多日无新增确诊病例、疑似病例；重症、危重症患者降至三位数；4月4日全市无疫情小区占比达98.4%，全市防疫取得阶段性重要成果，经济社会秩序加快恢复。

地铁开了！中欧国际班列通了！企业运转了！超市定点开放了，医院恢复门诊了，滞留在外的家人回来了……

2020年4月8日零时，武汉在闭城76 个日夜后，正式解除离汉通道管控措施。但严格的防控还贯彻于社会的方方面面。在武汉元气渐拾、重归正轨之时，市民们知道，持续做好防控是必须的。全世界还在与COVID-19 战斗，保护好自身安全就是对世界最好的贡献。

Numerous common citizens stepped forward to volunteer and help: To guarantee medical workers daily necessities and cheer up the patients, Hua Yuchen, a young girl from Wuhan, stood on a plastic stool in a makeshift hospital in Qingshan District and sang for everyone through the broadcast, “The brightest star in the night sky, please light my way forward...” Wang Yong, a courier from Dongxihu District, drove the medical staff back and forth from the hospitals to their homes every day. Weng Jiang, a 40-year-old newly-cured patient of COVID-19, rolled up his sleeves and donated his plasma which carried both antibodies and hope.

In Wuhan, nearly ten million citizens stayed indoors, and their food supply must be ensured. In the middle of February, the first batch of 2000 tons of frozen pork from the Central Reserve arrived in the city. About 20,000 tons of fruits and vegetables were transported to Wuhan from eight provinces including Shandong, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan, Chongqing, Guangxi, and Yunnan within half a month. Food from all over China were on the dinner tables of Wuhan citizens. In Tianhe Airport, the Yangluo Port piers, and the three major railway stations, piles of essential materials were transported into Wuhan from all over China.

The supply mode of “online order + community group purchase + distribution to the community” was established rapidly, with one end joining up the supermarkets and the other end connecting thousands of households. As people could not go out to work due to the epidemic and the low-income groups had difficulties in making ends meet, five major supermarkets in Wuhan introduced vegetable packages which enabled customers to buy 5 kg of vegetables with 10 yuan.

When the parcels were delivered to the community, the community staff, officials volunteering to work in communities, volunteers, and employees of property company helped distribute the goods to each doorstep. Supply for the dining tables of nine million Wuhan people was never stopped.

Closure and quarantine: strictly on guard against the spread of the virus

To cut off the transmission chain of the virus, the communities became the second battlefield against the virus. On February 11, all the residential communities in Wuhan exercised strict closure management. Countless community workers, officials volunteering to work in communities, police officers, and volunteers rushed to perform their duties. From gate-keeping to door-to-door checking, from daily necessity supplies to psychological counseling, they formed a close network for epidemic control, building up walls to fend off the virus.

Hu Mingrong, a 60-year old community secretary, dealt with almost 600 phone calls per day and led a team of around 100 social workers in serving nearly 10,000 residents in the community. At 5 o’clock in the morning, Feng Feng, a grid worker, went out to buy medicine for the residents. Huang Heng, the interim secretary of a residential community in Hongshan District dealt with nearly 300 inquiries a day. He was so tired that his aged lumbar disc disease recurred, and he had to lie down on the hard floor of the office when arranging the work and answering the calls. Wu Yong, a police officer, passed away on his post at the age of 51 after overworking for 61 successive days. Man Caimei, a sanitation worker worked in the red zone with full protective equipment and cleaned up medical waste for more than a dozen wards every day. After 8-hour’s work in the day, she was always soaked with sweat in her protective suit.

High buildings near Wuhan Sports Center become big banners with slogans “China will win” and “Wuhan will win” on them (Photo by Xiao Yijiu)武汉体育中心附近高层建筑外墙打出“中国必胜”“武汉必胜”等标语（肖艺九 摄）

These people are representatives of all workers who devoted themselves to the smooth running of the city.

Reopen: Wuhan back on the track

Through arduous efforts, Wuhan, once the epicenter of the national epidemic battlefield, has embraced many good news:

Since March 18, there have been no new confirmed or suspected cases in Wuhan, and the number of patients in serious or critical condition has dropped to under 1,000.

On April 4, the epidemic-free communities accounted for 98.4% of the total in the city, and the city’s measures to prevent the virus from spreading within the region or beyond achieved initial success. The economic and social order has been quickly restored.The subway is running! The China-Europe international freight trains resume operation! The enterprises are running! Designated supermarkets have opened to the public. Hospitals have resumed their outpatient service. People stranded elsewhere have returned home.

At midnight on April 8, 2020, after 76 days and nights of lockdown, Wuhan officially lifted the travel ban and resumed outbound traffic. However, strict control measures are still taken in all aspects of society. While Wuhan is reviving and getting back on the track, its citizens are fully aware of the necessity to continue their protection efforts. The whole world is still fighting against COVID-19. Keeping themselves safe is also a great contribution to the world safety.