COVID-19: How China Did It
中国是如何防控新冠肺炎疫情的
Ambassador of China to Nigeria Dr. Zhou Pingjian
驻尼日利亚大使周平剑
3 April 2020
2020年4月3日
Wuhan, the hardest hit Chinese city by the COVID-19 outbreak, will lift outbound travel restrictions from April 8. Other areas in Hubei Province have already lifted outbound transportation restrictions since March 25.
武汉将于4月8日起解除离汉通道管控措施。此前，湖北省除武汉以外地区已于3月25日起解除离鄂通道管控。
As the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan, with over 50000 confirmed cases and 2500 deaths, accounts for nearly 61% and 77% of the total confirmed cases and deaths, respectively, in the Chinese mainland. One month ago, several thousand of new infections reported everyday in Wuhan. With over three months’ struggle and sacrifices, Wuhan recently reports no newly confirmed cases for days.
作为中国受新冠肺炎疫情影响最严重的地方，武汉确诊病例超过50000例，病亡2500余人，分别占全国的61%和77%，一个月前武汉还每天新增上千病例。经过3个多月的努力与牺牲，武汉已连续多天未出现新增病例。
This marks a notable turning point in the city’s months-long battle with the virus and sending a message of hope to a world grappling with the pandemic. As the Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros pointed out, “Wuhan provides hope for the rest of the world that even the most severe situation can be turned around.”
“解封”是武汉连续数月抗疫的重要转折点，也向全世界传递出希望。正如世卫组织总干事谭德塞所言，“武汉给世界带来了希望，即使是疫情最严重的情况也能扭转。”
All across China, the situation in beating the COVID-19 pandemic is moving steadily in a positive direction. Life and work are quickly returning to normal. How China did it? You may wonder. C.H.I.N.A did it, I should say.
在全国范围内，目前中国国内疫情防控形势持续向好，生产生活秩序加快恢复。中国是如何做到的？
C: Curbing the transmission.
一是坚决阻断病毒传播。
Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province with a population of over 11 million, is the major transportation hub and the most populous city in Central China. On January 23, the government decided to block off Wuhan’s transport system – or what we refer to as launching the lockdown of the city. Till the upcoming lift on April 8, the people in Wuhan will have been staying at home for 76 days.
武汉是湖北省会，人口超过1100万，是中国中部地区的交通枢纽和人口第一大市。1月23日起，武汉实施“封城”。到4月8日，市民将居家坚守76天。
At the beginning, some people might become disgruntled about the decisions made to quarantine infectious groups, suspend public transport operations in Wuhan and block off all contacts between the epicenter and the rest of the country. But the continuous trend for better situation in China have proved that the lockdown of Wuhan is a least costly and most effective approach to quarantine the infections and cut off every possible method and channel, containing the pandemic at its source and from spreading further.
一开始大家可能对人群隔离、阻断交通、暂停跟外界接触等措施不理解，但持续向好的疫情防控形势证明了隔离传染源、切断传播途径是成本最低的也是效果最好的方法。
H: highest priority.
二是极其重视。
On January 25, the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year, while we were celebrating together the Abuja Temple Fair inside the China Culture Center, President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. He heard reports on the prevention and control of the outbreak and decided in the meeting to set up a CPC Central Committee leading group to oversee the work, and also send groups to Hubei province and other hard-hit regions to direct the work on the ground. Holding a meeting on the Spring Festival, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which has traditionally been a happy time for family reunions and other gatherings, is for the first time ever in New China’s history.
习近平主席1月25日主持召开中共中央政治局常委会会议，听取疫情防控工作汇报。会议决定，党中央成立应对疫情工作领导小组，全面加强防控工作，并向湖北等疫情严重地区派出指导组。在大年初一，这个原本走亲访友的团圆节日里举行政治局常委会，这在新中国历史上还是头一次。
Since the outbreak, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee has convened eight meetings within three months to guide and ensure the effective deployment of pandemic prevention and control. The State Council made arrangements for the prevention and control of the outbreak with measures typically used for category-A infectious diseases even though the outbreak has been classified as a category-B infectious disease. All 31 provincial-level regions in China’s mainland launched a first-level emergency response – the highest level for a public health emergency. All levels of finance departments have allocated over 116.9 billion yuan (US$16.6 billion) for virus prevention and control efforts nationwide. On February 3 and 8, the 1000-bed Huoshenshan Hospital and 1500-bed Leishenshan Hospital were put into use respectively. Both of the makeshift hospitals were built in less than 10 days. With the rapid completion of another 16 temporary hospitals, the number of hospital beds in Wuhan rose from 5,000 to 23,000 in a few days.
疫情发生3个月来，政治局常委会八次开会研究部署疫情防控工作。国务院部署按照“乙类传染病、甲类管理”依法进行疫情防控。全国31省启动了突发公共卫生事件的一级响应。全国各级财政安排疫情防控投入1169亿元。2月3日、8日，拥有1000张床位的火神山医院和1500张床位的雷神山医院分别交用。两所医院均10天之内建成。短时间内改造建设方舱医院16所，收治床位从5000多张增加到2.3万张。
I: International cooperation.
三是国际协作。
China is by no means alone in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, the WHO deployed a high-level mission including 25 international experts to China to conduct field research on the prevention and control of COVID-19 from February 16 to 24. “The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr. Ihekweazu was one of ten global health leaders invited by the WHO to visit China and understudy their response approach. Since his return, the NCDC has been implementing numerous strategies and programs in Nigeria to ensure that the adverse impact of this virus on our country is minimized,” Said President Muhammad Buhari in his public speech on March 29.
在抗疫斗争中，中国并非孤军奋战。2月16日至24日，世卫组织联合专家考察组25名外方专家来华考察防控经验做法。布哈里总统3月29日在全国讲话中提到,尼日利亚疾控中心主任伊科维祖作为世卫组织考察组成员之一赴华考察抗疫做法，自他回国后，疾控中心已采取了一系列措施确保疫情对尼影响最小化。
By sharing the genome sequencing of the virus at the earliest opportunity as well as the control and treatment experience without reservation, China has won admiration and support from the international community. Leaders of over 170 countries and heads of more than 50 international and regional organizations have sent messages of support and 79 countries and 10 international organizations have provided medical supplies to China.
中国第一时间通报了新冠病毒的基因序列，毫无保留分享了抗疫经验，赢得了国际社会的尊重和支持。170多个国家领导人、50多个国际和地区组织负责人向我国领导人表示支持和慰问，79个国家和10个国际组织为中国人民抗疫斗争提供了大量援助。
President Buhari made a statement of solidarity on February 2, “China’s efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus have been exemplary, as well as the country’s collaboration with international agencies and other countries on the matter.” Indeed, China received strong political support and assistance in various means from the Government and good people of Nigeria at the most difficult moment in our fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. Such expressions of friendship boost our confidence in no small measure and will always be remembered and cherished by the Chinese people.
布哈里总统2月2日公开声明，“中国为遏制新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情扩散蔓延所作努力，以及就此同国际机构和其他国家密切沟通协作，堪称典范。”尼日利亚政府和人民在中方抗击疫情最艰难的时候给予宝贵政治支持和各种形式帮助，我们会始终铭记珍视这份友谊。
N: Nationwide efforts.
四是全国一盘棋。
Ms Li Hui, a nurse born after 1995, joined the battle in Wuhan without her parents’ knowledge and said she would donate her body to research should the worst happen. Ms Zhao Peiyu, head of the nursing group of the medical team sent by the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in support of Hubei province, said that more than 930 nurses had signed up to go to Wuhan. Their reasons are simple and pure, some said they had experience in treating SARS, some said they are a member of the CPC, some said they do not have too much family burden. These are just epitomes of all 43,000 medical workers from 340 medical teams who had been dispatched from all across China to Hubei province, Wuhan in particular, since the outbreak.
95后护士李慧瞒着父母偷偷应征赴武汉抗疫，表示如遭遇不幸将捐献遗体做研究攻破病毒。中日友好医院援鄂医疗队护理组组长赵培玉说，当时有930多名护士都报名赴武汉抗疫，他们的理由很简单，有人说经历过SARS救治，有人说自己是党员，有人说家里负担轻。他们仅仅是疫情暴发以来全国340支驰援湖北武汉医疗队43000名医护人员的缩影。
By fighting the pandemic with concerted efforts, Hubei and Wuhan, the hardest-hit areas in China, received full-scale support nationwide timely. The National Health Commission and the Wuhan health authorities hold daily briefings to keep the public updated. 4,000 military medics were quickly dispatched to Wuhan. Nineteen provinces paired up with the cities in Hubei to provide one-on-one support. The communities in the whole country played an important role to identify the people, record their information for community management, and closely observe their health condition.
中国全国协调联动抗击疫情，重点支援武汉和湖北。国家卫健委和武汉卫健委每天举行发布会，通报有关举措和进展。4000名军队医务人员迅速驰援武汉。19个省份对口支援湖北各市。全国社区街道发挥重要作用，确保追踪到人、登记在册、社区管理、上门观察。
A: All-society mobilization.
五是全社会动员。
In an interview shortly after his return to Abuja, Dr. Ihekweazu shared his observations, “There are several valuable lessons from China’s response to this outbreak. An important aspect is the whole of society approach, where both government and individuals are playing critical roles. Everyone sees the control of the outbreak as a personal responsibility and this is an important lesson for us in Nigeria.”
伊科维祖主任回国不久接受采访表示，“在中国学到了许多宝贵的抗疫经验，其中之一就是全民行动，政府和民众共同努力，每个人都将防控疫情视为己任，这非常值得尼日利亚学习。”
Indeed. Take Olatoye Babatunde, a 24-year-old Nigerian student in Nanjing. He has become an internet celebrity recently. Many Chinese people gave likes online to the photos of his volunteer assistance to medical workers as they treat patients of COVID-19. At China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 13 international students including one Nigerian formed a volunteer team to serve international students. “We are foreigners, but we are not strangers,” they said. As foreigners in China, all of them have done a good part in the battle against the outbreak.
确实如此。在南京的尼日利亚留学生欧莱德最近成为“网红”，许多网民为他主动请缨参加社区检疫工作的图片点赞。13名中国地质大学（武汉）的国际留学生成立了志愿服务队为其他留学生服务，其中就有一名尼日利亚小伙。他们说，“我们是外国人，但我们不是外人！”每一名在华外国人都在为抗疫做出自己的贡献。
To say nothing of the Chinese people themselves. With the perseverance and devotion and in response to the government’s call, they stayed indoors, all wore masks, kept social distance and sacrificed their normal lives in order to contain the spread of the virus. The people in Wuhan, in particular, have borne the biggest burden and paid the biggest price. The outbreak of the pandemic in China has been effectively controlled in less than three months, behind which are the efforts of everyone in the whole society.
中国人民更是如此。全国人民坚忍付出，响应号召，足不出户，佩戴口罩，保持距离，自觉牺牲正常生活，极大降低了病毒蔓延速度，武汉人民做出最多牺牲。中国疫情在不到三个月内得到有效控制，背后是全社会每一个人的默默付出。
Major infectious disease is the enemy of all. For now, the COVID-19 outbreak is spreading worldwide, posing enormous threat to life and health and bringing formidable challenge to global public health security. It is imperative for the international community to strengthen confidence, act with unity and work together in a collective response.
重大传染性疾病是全人类的敌人。当前，新冠肺炎疫情正在全球蔓延，给人民生命安全和身体健康带来巨大威胁，给全球公共卫生安全带来巨大挑战。国际社会最需要的是坚定信心、齐心协力、团结应对。
We have full confidence in Nigeria’s determination and capacity to defeat the pandemic ultimately. China firmly supports Nigeria’s fight against the virus and stands ready to assist, if needed, to the best of its capacity. Despite the daunting task of epidemic control remaining at home, China will try its best to provide medical supplies to Nigeria and do whatever it could to support Nigeria. We have set up the online COVID-19 knowledge center (https://covid19.21wecan.com/) that is open to all. We will continue to share information and experience with Nigeria, and strengthen cooperation on containment, treatment and vaccines in response to the COVID-19 challenge, with a view to building together a community of shared health for mankind.
中方相信尼方终将战胜疫情，坚定支持尼方抗击疫情的努力。在国内抗击疫情的同时，中方也将尽己所能为尼方提供医疗援助。中方已经建立新冠肺炎疫情防控网上知识中心，向所有国家开放。中方将继续同尼方分享信息和经验，加强疫情防控、医疗救治、疫苗开发等领域合作，为打造人类卫生健康共同体作出积极贡献。