All eyes will be on the World Health Organization this week, to see if it reverses the decision to hold off on classifying the Wuhan virus<\/a> as a “public health emergency of international concern.” Doing so could enable a more concerted international response, though many affected countries have already independently begun putting in the types of screenings and quarantines that might be recommended.<\/div>\n

Inside China, since January 22 when Xi intervened the government response has been colossal, but this does not seem to be having the desired effect, perhaps because of how far the virus spread before a reaction was ordered.<\/div>\n

$\"Construction$ <\/p>\n

Construction continues at a field hospital on January 26, 2020 in Wuhan.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Two brand new hospitals are being constructed in Wuhan itself to aid its overstretched healthcare system, due to be completed by next week, while an additional 1,200 health workers — along with 135 People’s Liberation Army medical personnel — will soon arrive in the city.<\/div>\n

But the hugely advanced infrastructure that China is relying on to contain the virus and transport aid and support to where it’s needed, is also what helped spread the pathogen in the first place.<\/div>\n

A month ago, few outside China may have heard of Wuhan, yet the city — and a small wildlife market within it — has managed to impact countries the world over; a sign of just how connected we all are in a globalized world. Attempting to control this inter-connectivity, as China’s and other governments must do to stop the virus, may be far harder than reaping the economic benefits.<\/div>\n

The stringent measures placed on Hubei have also attracted criticism. Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Zhang Xuezhong denounced them<\/a> as “savage” online, earning him the opprobrium of many panicked commentators. They may also carry major downsides in the long run, Xi Chen, a public health expert at Yale University, pointed out<\/a> that lockdowns not only have negative economic repercussions but also break down the “social cohesion that binds people at this special moment.”<\/div>\n

As Xi and the rest of the Standing Committee meet this week to discuss how to tackle the virus’s continued spread, they may decide on more draconian tactics. Whether their response is successful remains to be seen, as perhaps the world’s most powerful state apparatus grapples with what has bedeviled many of its predecessors — the sheer size and scale of China itself.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China’s unprecedented reaction to the Wuhan virus probably couldn’t be pulled off in any other country Hong Kong (CNN)As the world watches the developing crisis around the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, it’s difficult to know how worried to be. One thing is clear, however: China is treating the matter extremely seriously. With the number of confirmed … <\/p>\n