Blog #2 EC: The Novel Coronavirus

With the whole word in a panic over the newly discovered coronavirus, China, the  hub for the initial infection, has been taking extreme measures to prevent its spread. After receiving lash backs for not announcing warnings about the disease, the doctor, Li Wenliang, became a public icon of the Chinese government’s failing and a national hero. Dr. Wenliang began announcements about the virus in December but was silenced by police. He recently died Thursday after contracting the virus himself in Wuhan.  China has been following extremely strict quarantine procedures and even went as far as imposing penalties on social media platforms for releasing information after accusing them of “instating panic.” 

I think the penalties on social media platforms is taking it too far from the Chinese government. I understand that people may panic when hearing news but citizens also have a right to know about the risks in their country. Besides, the panic instilled in Chinese citizens resulted in the shortage of toilet paper, not uproar on the streets. Also the panic around the world for the coronavirus is a bit extreme given that the symptoms are cold symptoms and most people dying from the novel coronavirus already have other ailments. 

Prior to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the Chinese economy was enduring great hardship due to the protests against the government. The outbreak has since worsened the Chinese economy especially in tourist areas which are now more vulnerable than during the violent protests. With tourism being considered one of the four pillars in their economy, China has entered a recession. All business and lives were effected by the outbreak of the virus. The Chinese government has suspended schools, universities and kindergartens are not open again until, at the earliest, March and most business are telling their faculty to work from home if possible. Locals brave enough to walk the streets are treating the coronavirus outbreak like 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS by wearing face masks and avoiding other people on the streets.