Wuhan: The Corona virus was found in the Chinese city of Wuhan about three months back. The virus was first identified in the “Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market” in the city of Wuhan.
The doctor who identified the virus as an advanced version of corona was first harassed by Chinese police; however, later Chinese government apologized to the deceased doctor’s family after his death. The new virus was first identified by Dr Li Wenliang, a 36-year-old doctor working as an ophthalmologist at central hospital, China.
He predicted that the new virus could be more dangerous than the 2003 SARS virus that originated from China. He wrote to his fellow doctors through China’s messaging-social media platform- ‘WeChat’ that he had diagnosed a new virus and ‘most of the affected patients had a relationship with Huanan seafood market’. As the message spread rapidly on social media, two Chinese police officers called him to the police station to explain why he was creating a rumour that was causing social unrest? He was warned not to do so in writing. Meanwhile, Dr Lee himself was diagnosed with corona and died on February 7, 2020. Prior to his death, he had left a post on China’s twitter like micro-blogging site- ‘Weibo’, that how he was persecuted and harassed by Chinese police and his free speech was curtailed by authority.
The news spread like wildfire in China, and the Chinese government tried to blow it off from ‘Weibo”. Millions of people voiced their displeasure over the Chinese government’s interference with freedom of speech. At the time of Lee’s death, as many as 636 people had died in China, and about 31,000 people were affected by coronavirus. China’s National Supervisory Commission, the country’s top investigative agency, probed the allegations. When Chinese Communist Party felt a mistake has been really made, party sent a letter of apology to Lee’s wife and parents.
Recently, the Chinese government also publicly apologized to Lee’s family for their unwarranted actions and conveyed condolences to his family.
Control over corona in China and Singapore: While initially China was not admitting about the new virus, later on December 31, 2019 it informed World Health Organization (WHO) about a pneumonia of unknown cause, detected in Wuhan. There is no cure or medicine developed for Corona virus yet. Likewise, so far no vaccine has been developed for SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) which had surfaced in the early 2000s; however, no one has been infected with the SARS virus since 2008.
So it was agreed that the disease could be controlled only by increasing the physical distance between people. China opened two major makeshift hospitals in Wuhan province in just 10 days in February 2020. China had created 2,600 beds in two temporary hospitals. As many as 7,000 carpenters and masons were working day and night to build the 1,000-bed Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the city of Wuhan on March 10, and now no new patients have been diagnosed there. Similarly, Singapore, a country known for its discipline, has so far taken strict measures to keep people at home, leaving only one person dead with corona in Singapore. In Singapore, the government is providing adequate financial assistance to all, including workers, with its improved health facilities.
Moreover, controlling people’s movements through new apps (applications) Singapore is also delivering various services to the affected people at doorstep.
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