Photo: Shutterstock
Wuhan, China – a city that was once considered the political, economic, financial, commercial, cultural, and educational center of Central China – is now infamously known to the rest of the world as the birthplace of the coronavirus. But after almost 11 weeks of a strict and stringent lockdown, Wuhan has just reopened its doors, and its residents are now free to leave the city.
While life in Wuhan had already started to show signs of normality returning to its streets over the past few days, its people are not yet accustomed to going back to their day-to-day routines.
Most reports from around the world are painting a despairing picture of a recovering Wuhan, as residents are still traumatized by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Photo: The Straits Time
As soon as the lockdown was lifted, crowds did flock to the roads in their cars and to train stations as they leapt at the chance to get out of the city. But even as they’re now free to roam around their city and the rest of the country, many feel that the stigma associated with Wuhan will not go away.
Wednesday’s reopening came after only three new coronavirus cases were reported in the city in the last three weeks, and a day after China reported no new deaths for the first time since January.
It’s not all depressing though, as businesses and shops are slowly starting to run again, families are coming out to public parks for fresh air, and instead of bulk-buying daily essentials, people have already started crowding the malls to buy clothes and accessories.
The people of Wuhan do not need to be told to isolate themselves, as they had experienced the start of the pandemic first-hand – seeing the virus spread like wildfire, and then could only sit back and watch their loved ones breathe their last.
Photo: The Guardian
With that in mind, we as Malaysians need to remind ourselves that we are part of a bigger picture in the fight against COVID-19.
Even when the Movement Control Order (MCO) is finally lifted, it doesn’t mean that we’re free go about our daily lives as before. It’s crucial that even then, we take precautions and try our best not to leave our homes, seeing as several other countries had thought the worst was over, only to have another wave of cases disturb the peace.
It may be difficult to accept that we’re in this situation during this MCO, but bear in mind and be thankful that we don’t have it as bad as some other countries do, and that we can only truly stop the spread of the virus if we work together by staying at home, and also practising good personal hygiene.
By: Kyle Roshen Jacob
