At the end of 2019, the world was shocked by the shocking news about the emergence of a new, unexplored disease from the category of coronaviruses. The official name of the infection received COVID-19 only after some time. Coronavirus quickly spread around the world, was recognized as a pandemic and caused a general panic. However, the beginning of this large-scale disaster was laid in China, in one of the food markets of Wuhan. Let's take a closer look at the history of COVID-19 and the situation in the Republic of China in 2020.
What is the virus in China now
Coronavirus is not one single virus that infects all people around. This name hides a group of 30 or more viruses, which are divided into 2 subgroups. As a rule, the disease occurs in the body of an animal, is transmitted from it to a person, and then a person infects other people, becoming an asymptomatic carrier or one of the hospital patients.
The virus in China belongs to the category of coronaviruses. The official name of the dangerous disease combines the letters and numbers 2019-nCoV, otherwise it is simply called covid-19. The virus can occur in 3 forms:
- Respiratory - the easiest. With it, the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract becomes inflamed. The duration of the disease does not exceed 7 days;
- Intestinal - characterized by moderate severity;
- SARS, complex and fatal for the vast majority of patients in this category. Its other name sounds like acute respiratory syndrome, when the stage of severe respiratory failure sets in.
Most of the world's population 89% meet the virus with mild respiratory symptoms. Severe cases account for only 2-3% of the total number of infected people and, as a rule, occur in people with serious pathologies.
The virus is very different from the flu and the common cold. The main symptoms are fever and dry cough, which gradually turns into shortness of breath and pulmonary edema. The incubation period of the disease is not exactly known. Initially, doctors talked about 14 days, but in rare cases, the period can be longer, up to 28 days.
Source of infection of the first person
The world has become aware that a new type of coronavirus has appeared in China and there is a mass infection only in December. The authorities of the Asian country for a long time did not recognize the presence of danger. Initially, there was evidence that the first person became infected with the coronavirus in December, but the information turned out to be false. The truth surfaced only in March 2020, when the pandemic had already swept the whole world.
The first person contracted the new disease as early as November 17, after which he was in contact with many other people before the symptoms became pronounced. The alleged source of the virus was one of the products at the food market in Wuhan. There is still no exact answer to the question about the source of infection. According to scientists, it could be a snake or a bat. The latter version sounds more convincing, given how the Chinese love to eat semi-prepared foods with unknown consequences for the body.
What is the danger of the new coronavirus
Coronavirus in China began to spread rapidly, adding thousands of people a day to the counter of infected people every day. The largest increase in cases occurred in cities with a population of over one million and the center of infection in Hubei province. The rate of infection of the population was contained, thanks to the closure of the city of Wuhan, the source of the infection.
The danger of the virus lies in the lack of a vaccine to treat patients and a testing system that allows you to quickly determine the presence of the virus in the human body. A part of the population with strong immunity under the age of 50 suffers coronavirus like a common cold, but people with poor health or old age can get complications in the form of viral-bacterial pneumonia, which can be fatal.
Only ventilators can help in such a situation, but in conditions of a high percentage of morbidity, there are not enough devices, doctors are forced to choose who is more likely to survive.
The virus may not manifest itself in any way in the carrier, but a person in contact with it can become ill after a few hours. The mechanism of transmission has not yet been studied. Some scientists say that as a result of mutations, the infection began to remain on surfaces, being carried over long distances with the help of inanimate objects.
Pneumonia in China has become the main cause of death in the population infected with the coronavirus. The competent work of doctors helped to avoid the death of the population without the need to choose (which of the patients to leave on mechanical ventilation and which to remove), as is done in Spain ..
What's going on in China right now
The epidemic in China is gradually subsiding. Strict measures to isolate the population, monitor the situation on the streets of the city and timely hospitalization managed to stabilize the situation inside the country, making the increase in the number of new infected much less.
Quarantine from cities and provinces is gradually being lifted. People are starting to return to businesses, although there are still restrictions on visiting public places. In different provinces, depending on the situation, there are different levels of danger, lowered from the first (highest) to the second and third, more free options.
To organize treatment, China built a hospital for 1,000 beds within 10 days, ready to receive thousands of people daily from different parts of the country if necessary. The measure turned out to be unnecessary, but unlike other countries, China did not have to solve the problem of where to place thousands of infected people in separate boxes with the necessary care.
The epidemic was able to bring under heaven and little benefit. The sky over the country cleared up for the first time in many years. People were able to breathe clean air free of car exhaust and emissions from large enterprises.
Which provinces are affected by the virus?
The Chinese virus manifested itself in the Hubei province in the city of Wuhan. The coronavirus, an invisible infection, traveled with the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom through cities and other countries, waiting for the end of the incubation period, and then broke into the usual life of Chinese citizens. The infection spread to all regions of the country without exception.
At first, strict measures were introduced in the source city due to the highest incidence rates. People could not be close to each other on the street at a distance of less than 2 m. Every two days, one person from a family was allowed into the stores, limiting the volume of purchases to contain panic. Then the government began to introduce quarantine measures throughout the country.
The blocked territories included:
- Yunnan;
- Guizhou;
- Guangdong;
- Shanxi;
- Liaoning;
- Gansu.
The city of Daegu, located in the province of Gyeongsangbuk-do, was included in the category with an increased risk of the spread of the virus. The center is considered the fourth largest city in China.
The situation in China has stabilized
The situation in China today with the virus is stabilizing. The number of cases outside the country exceeded those inside China. The joint efforts of doctors and the government to treat and contain the spread of the infection have borne fruit. The number of infected daily tends to zero, deaths are declining. At present:
- the level of danger is reduced;
- businesses are returning to business as usual;
- hospitals prepared for the sick begin to empty;
- people are back on the streets.
The spread of coronavirus has become so massive due to open borders and the development of technology. Measures to contain the disease have been effective, but we cannot relax. Europe has not yet survived the catastrophe that the Chinese epidemic has brought to people's lives. Given the pace at which the number of infected is increasing, in China there may be a second outbreak of the disease when the virus mutates.
China's 2020 epidemic is gradually entering history, while Europe and America have yet to overcome the peak of the incidence and problems associated with a new generation of coronavirus. Government measures, a global response to the problem helped to cope with the incidence, so it is important to learn from the experience of one country for others. It is important for China to continue to stabilize the situation, to monitor the emergence of recurrent outbreaks and develop a vaccine that can help people avoid deadly danger again.