Voices from the Covid crisis in China, one year after the Wuhan lockdown

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They are survivors, essential workers and specialists still trying to understand the physical and emotional effects of the coronavirus. They make up a tapestry of people, offering a vision of the first few months of the pandemic and what the recovery means in China.

A year after the Covid-19 lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan – the world’s first and still one of the toughest – we asked six people, some of whom we spoke with during the height of the outbreak , to describe what they went through.

These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

One day in August, our manager reminded us that drivers should always wear masks, no matter how much the situation improved. Personally, I don’t know if it’s PTSD, but I still wear a mask. I am probably the only driver in our company who always has hand sanitizer in my pocket and uses it regularly.

I always thought I was not afraid of death. But I found out during the epidemic that I am terrified of it. I missed my wife, my 5 year old twins, my father. I thought, if I survive, what am I going to do?

So after the lockdown was lifted my first thought was to go home. I stayed for two months. In the past I would stay two or three days, maybe a week, and then hurry back home. I didn’t earn much money and my mind was always to earn more. But now my way of thinking has changed. If I earn a little more money, what’s the point?

I never thought this sudden outbreak would create a situation where everyone said thank you. I was shocked. Wasn’t that respect for people like experts, academics, celebrities? How could he go to a delivery guy? It made me so happy.

Now things are back to what they were last year. It is human nature.

Zhang Yongzhen, a virologist, has come under immense official pressure after releasing the complete sequence of the novel coronavirus on January 11 last year, in defiance of Chinese government orders. He stays absent from the Beijing story of how the country beat the virus, unlike Zhong Nanshan, the government-appointed doctor celebrated for announcing what many experts had already understood: that the virus could be transmitted by humans.

At that time, I made four discoveries about the virus. First, it was like SARS. Two, it was a new coronavirus. More importantly, the virus was transmitted through the respiratory tract. I also thought it was more infectious than the flu virus. Even then, I thought it must be able to spread from humans to humans.

If more experts had shared my opinion from the start, then maybe we wouldn’t have needed Zhong Nanshan to say something.

Whether in the United States or China, we have to cultivate a group of critics – real scientists on the ground. China really needs it. Zhong Nanshan is old. Who will be the next to dare to speak the truth? You must have enough courage to speak the truth.

Since then, I have encountered difficulties in my work and in funding my programs. But I don’t regret anything that I did. I trusted myself. I have so much experience, my team has made so many discoveries over the years, that we have been able to make precise judgments.

Hope you can mention something. My wife passed away on October 13, 2019. We got married in 1989 and have been together for 30 years. If I have made a contribution to society, it is thanks to the support of my wife.

Blair Zong, 34, was one of hundreds of Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, and she published a visual journal in February, chronicling his quarantine at a military base in California. She is now in Austin, Texas where she works as an event planner and nanny.

After the Wuhan lockdown, I was nervous and anxious. I heard rumors of people dying and things got really scary. Someone sent me a report saying America was evacuating citizens, so I called the consulate. I made the decision to go say goodbye to my mother and my grandparents.

The day I left my forties, there was a lady behind me in line at the San Diego airport who was coughing nonstop. I remember thinking at the time that it was a bad sign, but I also felt like the virus couldn’t spread so badly here. Everything was back to normal.

But from March, people started buying toilet paper and the panic returned. The situation had stabilized in China, so my friends there started laughing at me and asking, “Are you sorry to go back now?” A friend of mine from college in Wuhan sent me a package of glasses and masks.

I have become calmer and more attentive to life. I accept everything as it comes. I try to be more ecological.

As Wuhan focused on fighting the coronavirus, Zhao Qian, 29, struggled to get medical treatment for her newborn daughter, who had life-threatening heart disease.

At the time, the hospitals were not accepting any patients, including our daughter. We tried so hard, we tapped every resource and every connection possible, and it was only through our efforts that we were able to save our daughter’s life. All the doctors had gone to the front line.

Overall, however, the country’s policies were pretty good. I remember when all the supermarkets were closed, volunteers still helped me buy food. No matter the rumors or nasty rumors, I think the country was very powerful. Wuhan residents are now very safe. It is very reassuring.

Every Chinese person should feel very proud. No matter how hard it is, even with an epidemic so severe that other countries couldn’t control it, as long as people are unified, I think we can overcome anything.

Lei Wuming, 50, a psychology professor at Wuhan University of Technology, started organizing a funeral through WeChat, a popular messaging app, to give grieving families a way to mourn.

At the time, I was like a priest organizing this funeral. I was also a psychologist. I helped create an atmosphere for families to express their grief. First, to express their grief, and second, to cherish the memories.

It brought families together. They brought back the same memories and the same person and that made their relationship closer. They huddled together to warm up.

Families would create a focus group. Then I would join. I would play funeral music and then give a speech. Then I would name each person speaking, one by one. They could choose to talk, type, or even send emojis.

It was social support, so the family would feel, “I’m not alone here. I have families and friends who are there for me.

In retrospect, our death toll compared to Western countries – if honestly reported – ours is pretty low. But at the time of the pandemic, we didn’t think so. We thought we were screwed.

After Liu Pei’en dad died of the coronavirus last January, he sworn to pressure authorities to take responsibility for initially covering up the epidemic.

Thinking back to the first semester of last year, I was so angry. Local officials threatened me. I left Wuhan and they still didn’t want to let him go. They harassed my relatives. They wanted to make it look like I had a mental illness.

But in the second half of the year, I started to change. I devoted myself to the study of Buddhism. Faith enables you to understand life and the truth. I could see that retribution and murder have been part of humanity from ancient times to the present day.

My heart started to calm down. I am no longer angry and full of hate. However, the pain is sharp and I cry a lot.

I spend a lot of time praying. I try to donate as much money as possible to temples and other charities for the poor and the elderly around Wuhan. I donated over 100,000 yuan ($ 15,000) on behalf of my father to help him earn merit.

All the dreams I had of making money before have faded. Because what is the money for anyway? Money cannot buy life.

I realized I was ignorant when I thought I could sue the government. Nothing will come of it. And if you take a step back, everyone is guilty and will face karmic retribution.

I only care about the people around me, to be myself. I plan to take my mother to Sanya for the Chinese New Year. This is where we were going to go last year before my dad got infected.

Reports and research were provided by Keith bradsher, Albee zhangand Coral Yang.

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