武汉病毒带出了最好的和最差的灾害应对

首次检测到新冠状病毒后,武汉海鲜市场关闭照片: 系统名称

全球对武汉爆发新病毒的反应, 中国, 一直提醒着国际合作的好处. 可悲的是, 它也带出了一些人类最糟糕的因素.

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The impending threat of a fatal disaster holds a mirror up to humanity. 该 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was a backdrop to a collection of stories of individual heroism and an outpouring of international grief and assistance. It showed the lengths that humans would go to save loved ones and strangers alike from certain death.

The recent outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus in Central China has invoked a similar response. With more than 5,974 confirmed cases across 17 国家, it has brought out the best in humanity and demonstrated the unprecedented effectiveness of international disease prevention mechanisms.

然而, it has also held a mirror up to ASEAN’s societies, providing a warts-and-all glimpse into modern anti-Chinese sentiment and the racist undertones that carry it.

Map charting the spread of Wuhan's coronavirus across the globe

The outbreak of a virus in Wuhan united the international scientific community

The rapid global response to an unidentified, pneumonia-like virus first detected in Wuhan, Central China has been unprecedented.

Within two weeks, the Chinese authorities formed an international consortium to look into the virus which swiftly published the genetic sequence on an open-access platform. 相比之下, during the SARS epidemic, it took Beijing five months to identify and share the genetic sequence of the virus.

Once a genetic sequence is identified, scientists across the globe can begin working on DNA an一种lysis to identify possible vaccine options and develop antibody tests to detect the disease in patients that are yet to show symptoms. 另外, it allows laboratories to grow the disease themselves, instead of waiting for patient samples to arrive in the mail.

In the face of a global public health emergency, scientists and researchers have mobilised all the tools at their disposal to control the spread of the virus.

Karla Satchell, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Northwestern University in the US told the Washington Post, “this is really new… Lots of people [in science] still try to hide what they’re doing, don’t want to talk about what they’re doing, and everybody out there is like: This is the case where we don’t worry about egos, we don’t worry about who’s first, we just care about solving the problem.”

The results of this enhanced international health diplomacy have been staggering. There are reports that researchers at Purdue University in the US could have a vaccine ready for human testing within three months. It took scientists 20 months from the moment the SARS genome was identified to the first human vaccine tests.

Scientists put their egos aside, but so did the Chinese government

The lightning-fast scientific response to the virus can be attributed in part to the transparency of the Chinese government. 在 2003, 当非典疫情感染了超过 5,200 人在中国大陆, 北京被指控策划掩盖了它采取了政府后,近5个月宣布的爆发给公众,并成立了专案组,以应对疾病.

自那时候起, 北京已制定了国家级的应急预案处理自然灾害和公共卫生问题. 它还成立了中国信息系统疾病控制和预防, 一种 全国信息系统 连接医院和诊所和轨道实时爆发.

这阵子, 而不是掩盖确诊病例, 北京与世界卫生组织密切合作 (谁) 并迅速共享与国际利益攸关方信息.

湖北武汉查看的, 中国从黄鹤楼
查看过武汉, 湖北省.
照片: Harald Groven

On Tuesday, the WHO announced that Beijing had even agreed to let global health experts into the country in a move Chinese President Xi Jinping 说过 was to prove his government was being “open, transparent” and “responsible” in its handling of the crisis.

The outbreak brought out the worst elements of anti-Chinese sentiment in Southeast Asia

The advances in international health diplomacy on display during the outbreak have been a cause for celebration. 然而, the crisis has also illuminated the ugliest elements of anti-Chinese sentiment across the ASEAN region.

Within hours of the outbreak, social media was awash with users joking about the outbreak. 网友们抓住了一个中国题外话的视频吃蝙蝠汤,并建议这是造成了爆发中国的饮食习惯.

所描绘的题外话和影响者, Wang Mengyun, 是 很快指出 蝙蝠汤是不是中国菜和视频既不最近也没有在武汉拍摄. 它在帕劳拍摄, 密克罗尼西亚三年前, 其中,蝙蝠汤是当地的美食.

但对于排外聊天的小贩, 细节是无关紧要. 它没有停止服用社交媒体键盘战士的小军,分享他们的信仰,这是中国人的饮食习惯和卫生条件差导致爆发.

其他职位达成一个更恶意音. 马来西亚, 一些网民去就表明这种病毒的一种形式“神的报应” over China’s treatment of the Uyghur population.

Some mosques in Malaysia have implemented a ban on Chinese tourists. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was quick to announce that any mosques limiting access to Chinese tourists were not acting on governmental advice.

在菲律宾, the government’s response has been disproportionate to the threat level. The Philippines has stopped issuing visas on arrival to all Chinese tourists. There have also been calls to block Chinese tourists from arriving in Malaysia and a petition in Singapore to ban Chinese travellers from entering the city-state has garnered more than 110,000 签名.

Southeast Asia’s proximity to China means ASEAN nations must take steps to prevent the spread of the disease. 然而, these steps must reflect the fact that the disease is the problem, not the Chinese people.

胁迫的时间应唤起同情, 没有嘲笑,毕竟, 冠状病毒的菌株可以很容易地已经在东南亚爆发. 有它这样做, 东盟国家希望支持, 不嘲笑, 从国际社会.