2020-02-13 Beijing Review

16 BEIJING REVIEW FEBRUARY 13, 2020 http://www.bjreview.com

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Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses

that cause illnesses ranging from the com-

mon cold to more severe diseases such as

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)

and severe acute respiratory syndrome

(SARS). The current outbreak of the novel

coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that was first re-

ported in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province

in central China, is a new strain that was not

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Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning

they are transmitted between animals and

people. Detailed investigations found that

SARS was transmitted from civet cats to

humans and MERS from dromedary camels

to humans. Several known coronaviruses

circulating in animals have not yet infected

humans.

Common signs of infection include

fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. In

more severe cases, infection can cause

pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syn-

drome, kidney failure and death.

Standard recommendations to prevent

the spread of infection include washing

hands regularly, covering the mouth and

nose when coughing or sneezing, thorough-

ly cooking meat and eggs, and avoiding

close contact with anyone showing symp-

toms of respiratory illness such as coughing

or sneezing.

February 6: A total of 107 medical teams

with 10,596 members have arrived in the

novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) hard-hit

Hubei Province in central China to as-

sist epidemic control, Yang Yunyan, Vice

Governor of Hubei, says at a press con-

ference. They came from 29 provinces,

municipalities and autonomous regions,

as well as the People’s Liberation Army.

February 6: After 10 days’ work, the

Leishenshan Hospital, the second

makeshift hospital for treating 2019-

nCoV patients in Wuhan, Hubei, starts to

be delivered after passing the check by

the city’s urban construction and health

departments.

February 4: The Huoshenshan Hospital,

Wuhan’s first makeshift hospital, begins

accepting 2019-nCoV patients. The hos-

pital with 1,000 beds was delivered on

February 2 after 10 days’ construction.

February 3: The Standing Committee of

the Political Bureau of the Communist

Party of China (CPC) Central Committee

holds a meeting on the prevention and

control of pneumonia caused by the

2019-nCoV. President Xi Jinping, also

General Secretary of the CPC Central

The two new hospitals, Huoshenshan
and Leishenshan, went into operation in ear-
ly February. They were erected by thousands
of workers and volunteers who worked in
shifts to continue the assembling round the
clock.
In addition, venues in Wuhan, including
gymnasiums, exhibition centers and sports
centers, have been or would be converted into
hospitals to admit more people infected.
After medical workers and epidemic pre-
vention experts, drivers were the next largest
group among the 120,000 people entering
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analysis of data from the State Information
Center, a national think tank, shows. They
are crucial to the lifeline of the city.
Thanks to them, food, medicines and other
essential supplies have been continuously de-
livered to Wuhan. One story doing the rounds
is that of the dedication of Tan Dexiao, a young
trucker who was carrying nearly 6 tons of food
materials such as rice and noodles to Wuhan.
Heavy rains caused the expressway to close,
which meant he had to detour for about 175
km. Then his truck got stuck in a pit and he had
to wait for hours before it could be hauled out
and then proceeded to deliver the goods to
their destination, all this in the thick of the holi-
day season.
Still, the high demand for medical sup-
plies, especially protective clothing and
masks, rendered a “tight balance” between
supply and demand, Tian Yulong, chief
engineer at the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology, said at a press con-
ference on February 3. Hubei is an important
production base of medical materials includ-
ing protective clothing and goggles. The
recovery of production capacity after the
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shortage, he said.

Liu Xiaoming, Vice Minister of Transport,

said some e-commerce enterprises have

purchased urgently needed materials such

as masks from overseas. Individuals have

also chipped in. Singer Hu Haiquan pur-

chased 160,000 masks from Singapore,

packed them into 40 suitcases, and

had them brought to China. Chinese

people living and studying abroad have

sent supplies to Wuhan and other af-

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Workers package masks at a factory in Linli County, Hunan Province in central China, on January 26, the second day of
the Chinese New Year

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