The COVID-19 epidemic has continued for almost half a year, causing huge damage in many countries. In China, where the novel coronavirus was firstly confirmed, people have slowly resumed their life after a long period of quarantine.How did China flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases and gradually bring things back to normal? Here’s an article written by a CUC PhD student Arshad Bhatti and published by one of the largest English language newspapers in Pakistan, where he came from.

How China won the battle against COVID-19?

By Arshad Bhatti

Coronavirus has shaken the world upside down. All the developed and developing countries seem helpless in controlling the epidemic to date. Reportedly, almost 4.5 million people fell prey to the pandemic while around three hundred thousand lost their lives across the globe. The world economies are facing the worst crisis after Great Depression, people are losing jobs and companies are shutting down their businesses.  

In this bleak time, there are still some success stories. A number of countries have won the battle against the COVID-19 and life is returning back to its usual pace.  

China, the epicenter of the specter, has defeated the virus. Then how did China make it with such a huge population？ To understand China’s success, the world needs to understand the nature ofChinese people and their trust in the government.

Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province, faced the longest lockdown. People remained inside their houses for 76 days， showing their commitment to fighting against the pandemic with patience and dedication.  

Ignore the politics around the fatal disease, mudslinging and conspiracy theories and let’s try to understand this success story from the version of Chinese people. Chinese people, in general, attach great value on the common good. So they follow the orders and policies by the government with full trust. China is a disciplined society, and this discipline helped them to fight against any disaster.   

This scribe conducted a small survey with some Chinese friends questioning how China has controlled the epidemic successfully. According to the surveyed Chinese people, the country’s leadership had taken proper measures in a short time, and the main cause of this success was strict government control and quick response towards the COVID-19. What’s more, free treatment made it easy for people to get tested.

Organized management of checking, from the central government to provinces and from provinces tocities, and to the county levels and even every household, helped China to keep a track record of every citizen and ultimately helped the authorities to respond timely to curb the disease.  

Thanks to new technologies, online statistics regarding everyone’s information had been collected by some mini-apps. The authorities were able to know everyone’s situation in real time. During the lockdown time, people needed to write their situations online when going out to the supermarkets, etc.

Chinese are very dutiful when it comes to the collective cause. 

Chinese hardworking lifestyle in all walks of life always pays them back. During the worst time of the pandemic, almost everyone contributed to the control of the pandemic. People isolated themselves into self-quarantine which they say was a help to each other. From medical staff to law enforcement agencies and to staffers of supermarkets, people from different careers all put their lives and served the nation. Even before the epidemic, Chinese had the habit to wear the mask (especially common in winter), and during this time people were recommended to wear masks and gloves when they go out.

All these measures helped China to overcome the epidemic. As a result, there are very few new cases atpresent. However, the Chinese authorities are still on toes to act timely in case of any spike of the novel coronavirus.

Although the situation is heading towards uncontrollable circumstances, the world can still save itself by following the Chinese practices. Being careful is the most effective weapon to fight against COVID-19, the common enemy, and we all need to use this weapon.

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The writer is PhD candidate at Communication University of China, Beijing