Appreciation for Hubei

We put our masks on to walk the dog, pick up waimai, or go to the market. They take our temperature when we come back to our complex. They disinfect the elevators three times a day. We stay in to eat, actually cooking our own meals. We watch lots of movies and TV shows. We write, or at least think about writing. Workplaces are closed. Restaurants are closed. Schools are closed. People walk past each other on opposite edges of the sidewalk. We check the daily infected count, trying to figure out if the latest new infections means the end is near or we are just at the beginning. We check twitter constantly. We check wechat constantly. We check the apps that show how close an infected person lives from your current location. 500 meters. That seems close enough. Things change daily. This is February 9th 2020, during the coronovirus outbreak. This is Beijing.

This is not Hubei. This is not Wuhan. When this coronovirus became an epidemic Chinese authorities locked down Wuhan. You could get in, but you could not get out. More cities in Hubei followed. Then the rest of Hubei. Medical facilities were overrun, are overrun. Still, the citizens are not allowed to leave and seek treatment elsewhere. Reports are harrowing and pervasive. I've read (translated) first hand accounts, poured over the statistics, consumed countless articles, considered many perspectives. That has helped to educate me and I know I'm not an expert. I know the people of Wuhan and Hubei have suffered. Suffered for the rest of China. It hits you when you read (translated) time lapsed tweets of a daughter who lost her mother, then her father, and then is infected herself. It hits you when you read of medical workers literally dying from exhaustion. It hits you when you see a government photo op and you know what's going on behind the photo op.

I'm not an expert and I hope the experts who locked down Wuhan and Hubei know of what they do. I prefer to believe they do. We do not know if the lockdown will be ultimately be successful. How history will judge it. But I do know the people of Wuhan and Hubei have suffered a lot. The fathers. The mothers. The sons. The daughters. They have suffered and, yes, sacrificed for us.

Thank You Wuhan and Hubei.