Essay Sample on China's Attitude Towards COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first reported in China's city of Wuhan, in the province of Hubei. The virus then spread quickly throughout the globe, and it has affected more than 1 million people, with over 60,000 deaths. Although China was the epicenter of COVID -19, it recorded about 3,300 deaths, which is lower compared to those from other countries like Italy and Spain. This figure shows that China was able to control the spread of the disease. In addition to containment measures implemented by China's authorities, other aspects also contributed to the successful control of the virus. One of these aspects is China's attitude towards COVID-19. China has since resumed her normal activities, and Wuhan partially reopens. The country has eased travel and social-distancing restrictions (BBC News, 2020). On April 4, 2020, China mourned the victims of the COVID-19 outbreak by observing a 3-minute silence nationwide.

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China held an optimistic attitude towards COVID-19, believing that it will eventually be controlled. Through this attitude, Chinese people were able to follow the control measures that the GovernmentGovernment introduced to control the disease (Zhong et al., 2020). These included social-distancing, the shutdown of cities and counties of Hubei Province, traffic limits, and the ban of foreign visitors. The people engaged in very cautious practices such as avoiding crowded places and wearing masks when leaving home. The control measures increased people's confidence in winning the battle against COVID-19. The combined efforts throughout the country also contributed to the optimistic attitude of overcoming the pandemic. The control efforts were seen from many provinces that dispatched thousands of medical workers and provided tons of medical material to Wuhan city after the outbreak (Zhong et al., 2020). This solidarity attitude is associated with the deep culture of the Chinese people of collective action towards a common threat. The solidarity attitude of the Chinese people is also reflected in the way they paid respect to the victims of the virus. The whole nation came to a standstill during the 3-minute silence. This shows that they were all together in this. Besides, the GovernmentGovernment referred to the medical workers who died when battling the virus as "martyrs," showing how much they respect them (BBC News, 2020). Some of the Chinese medical workers also reported how they sorrowful they were about their colleagues who died.

The Chinese residents also had good knowledge of COVID-19. People were aware that the virus could be easily transmitted through invisible respiratory droplets (Zhong et al., 2020). Through this knowledge, people were optimistic that avoiding contact would help prevent the infectiousness of the virus. The knowledge of the people helped them to accept and adhere to the strict containment measures. There were no cases of violation of the restriction orders given by the authorities.

Despite the positive attitude towards COVID-19 by China, the country also portrayed a non-transparent and irresponsible attitude. The authorities of China did not admit that they were affected by the Coronavirus outbreak, and they were only forced by the physical evidence to reveal the truth. Initially, during the outbreak, there was misinformation with the public caused by secrecy by the local authorities. According to a report by BBC News, China reported the recorded number of cases as 60 by January 18, yet experts estimated that real figure could be around 1700.

The local officials had to wait for consent from the central authorities before disclosing information. For example, doctors from Wuhan who tried to raise the alarm concerning the virus faced tough consequences. A good example is Dr. Li Wenliang, who warned about the epidemic that was detained twice for spreading rumors (Zhong et al., 2020). Dr. Li was later released to work in the hospital, where he died after being infected with the Coronavirus. This kind of attitude from Chinese authorities accelerated the situation in Wuhan. China started taking serious actions after January 20, 2020, when president Xi Jinping introduced containment measures. If China had introduced such actions earlier, there would have been fewer cases. COVID-19 could not be a global catastrophe.

The attitude from China's central authority limited decision-makers from making restriction intervention. As a result, people from Wuhan were allowed to travel throughout the country and abroad. Days after the first case of Coronavirus was reported, millions of people were prepared to travel for the lunar New Year, and authorities were afraid that the introduction of travel restrictions could cause social dissatisfaction. As a result, the number of cases tripled to 200, and the virus spread to other parts such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen (BBC News, 2020). From here, the virus spread rapidly in Asia and Europe, and finally to every corner of the world.

In conclusion, China's response and the optimistic attitude towards COVID-19 should be adopted by the rest of the world. The knowledge, experience, and capabilities that China acquired quickly during this crisis are essential for fighting the virus in all corners of the globe.

References

BBC News, (2020, April 4). Coronavirus: China Mourns Covid-19 Victims with Three-Minute Silence. Accessed April 9, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52162004

Zhong, B. L., Luo, W., Li, H. M., Zhang, Q. Q., Liu, X. G., Li, W. T., & Li, Y. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 16(10), 1745.