Wuhan, China
Photo Credit Hawaii Public Radio
Time April 20, 2020 pp7 THE BULLETIN “China on edge as Wuhan reopens after 11 weeks of hard lockdown” by Charlie Campbell/Shanghai
“…it will be a long time before life returns to normal for the 11 million residents of the capital of Hubei province”. As of April 8, residents of Wuhan were allowed to leave after “unprecedented quarantine measures”. At what was the epicenter of COVID-19, 2,535 died about three quarters of China’s reported dead from COVID-19.
Free to move but unwelcomed as “Apartment buildings in big cities have banned people from Hubei outright”. If allowed at a new location they face a 14-day quarantine. Some are calling for testing before travel.
Wuhan hopes to resume work having industrial investments contract 83.2%, fixed-asset 72.9% and retail 42.1%. Government stimulus is planned but currently “People are broke, don’t have disposable income and aren’t spending on leisure and entertainment”. “It’s going to be a huge struggle for business”.
Many question China’s numbers but reportedly after March 24, there were “no new local infections”. “George Goodwin, a biology teacher from Reno, Nev. [living in Wuhan]…says “There’s still the [Chinese] concept of saving face”.