AN ALL-OUT WAR
In Chinese mythology, the Spring Festival is a celebration after dispelling an imaginary monster called nian by bursting crackers and pasting auspicious red paper strips on doors. This year, China has been grappling with a real monster—the 2019-nCoV.
As of February 6, there were 31,211 confirmed infection cases in China, with 22,112 in Hubei. The death toll was 637 while 1,542 people were cured and discharged from hospital. Some 190 confirmed cases were also reported in about 20 more countries.
On February 3, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee met to discuss how to double efforts to contain the outbreak. President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said not just medical and healthcare but “all work should serve to win the fight against the epidemic.”
He also stressed that there should be no formalism and bureaucracy in fighting the epidemic and any dereliction of duty would be punished.
It is an all-out war being fought fiercely not only by medical workers at the frontline but also by everyone else in different ways. For a majority of people, it is a silent war fought from inside their homes or behind masks.
High vigilance
A bustling transportation hub located in
