Wuhan: How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control by Dali L. Yang

Author:Dali L. Yang [Yang, Dali L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Family & Relationships, General, History, Asia, Medical, Health Care Delivery, Public Health, Political Science, History & Theory, World, Asian, Geopolitics, Public Policy, Health Care
ISBN: 9780197756263
Google: 3wDsEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2024-07-15T00:21:44+00:00

Enter Dr. Zhong Nanshan and Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung

The Guangdong provincial leadership was keenly engaged and sought advice and leadership from Dr. Zhong Nanshan. As the director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Dr. Zhong played a crucial role in helping Guangdong manage the SARS crisis in 2003, not only in treatment but also in initial outbreak response, in disease identification, and in reaching out to the public. He was greatly admired for his courage and political astuteness as he resisted misguided directions from Beijing and refused to downplay the severity of the epidemic when SARS intensified in Beijing. Following the SARS crisis, he was honored with the presidency of the Chinese Medical Association (2005–2009), a position previously held by either current or former health ministers since 1989. Seventeen years after SARS, the 83-year-old Dr. Zhong continued to be active on the front lines of clinical practice. A strong athlete in his youth, he looked 20 years younger with his hair dyed black.

On January 16, 2020, Dr. Zhong Nanshan discussed details of patients with novel coronavirus infections with Dr. Liu Lei, president of the Shenzhen No. 3 People’s Hospital.72 He then joined members of the Guangdong provincial leadership, most likely Vice Governor Zhang Guangjun, for briefings at the Guangdong Provincial CDC. While Hubei leaders were preoccupied with their annual “two sessions,” the Guangdong provincial leadership relied on their SARS response experience and established a provincial leading group and an expert group for novel coronavirus epidemic control.73 Dr. Zhong headed the expert advisory team.

The next morning (January 17), Dr. Zhong, accompanied by Guangdong vice governor Zhang Guangjun and Duan Yufei, the head of the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission, traveled to Shenzhen and visited the Shenzhen No. 3 People’s Hospital to see patients and review the situation. He praised Shenzhen’s efforts in patient care and infection prevention.74 Concurrently, Guangdong Provincial CDC researchers obtained the whole coronavirus genome and compared it with the published genome from Wuhan.75 The observation of clinical symptoms and the genomic analysis results provided evidence for Dr. Zhong and the Guangdong CDC that the patients in Shenzhen had contracted the same virus as those in Wuhan and that human-to-human transmission was occurring.76

Professor Yuen Kwok-yung and his team reached the same conclusion but with more comprehensive evidence and analysis.77 On January 17, Yuen visited Wuhan to assess the situation firsthand.78 Late that evening, he sent an “URGENT” email to the Guangdong Provincial CDC, providing supporting evidence for person-to-person transmission and recommendations for public health measures. With the report from Yuen’s team and their own investigations and test results, the Guangdong Provincial CDC leaders and experts convened a late-night meeting and recommended that Guangdong elevate its epidemic control measures to address “human-to-human transmission and community spread.” The Guangdong CDC recommendation was submitted to the provincial health commission leadership on January 18.79

That same evening, Professor Yuen Kwok-yung also sent his urgent message, which included supporting evidence on person-to-person transmission, to China CDC director general Gao Fu.80 As the Guangdong CDC had previously

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