Throughout the Spring Festival holiday, the unknown virus has disturbed everyone's hearts. Cases of pneumonia related to respiratory difficulties have appeared not only in China but also in many places around the world. The virus has shown extremely strong transmissibility and infectivity.
Although Sun Tao suggested that Dong Qiangqiang pay more attention to the reports of domestic regular news media and avoid hearsay and false rumors, Dong Qiangqiang did so. However, what made him quite helpless was that compared with the German media's digging-in-the-earth reports, the local media The reports often seemed thin. Whenever he wanted to delve into more details, the reports were over, but the doubts and confusion in his heart were not alleviated or eliminated. He once believed that news programs must have advantages in timeliness, diversity, depth and authority in order to create a sense of trust among viewers.
What makes him even more uneasy is that the information brought by the domestic media is limited but increasingly heavy: in the southern city where the disease was first reported in the country, the incidence rate in February has quietly doubled compared to January. Fan, it is not an exaggeration to say it is a small peak. An important reason for the surge in cases is that medical staff have become a vulnerable group to infection. At the same time, a more terrifying and unfortunate result occurred in the first month than in January: deaths. At the same time, most medical experts in the city believe that chlamydia of Severe Respiratory Syndrome cannot yet be simply identified as the sole cause of the disease.
Dong Qiangqiang did not understand medical terminology, but even if he had no medical knowledge, he would still know that the rapid development of the epidemic situation in February, the shocking data, and the severity of the situation were far beyond his imagination. He clearly realized that the war against the virus would certainly not be resolved quickly in the short term, at least not as optimistically as Duanmu had predicted.
On the other hand, as time went by, various conclusive and well-informed opinions began to spread on different forums: some people said that the virus was a variant of mad cow disease, others believed that the virus was a side branch of avian influenza, and still others said It is definitely said to be a new type of plague, and some conspiracy theorists firmly believe that the attack originated from a biochemical weapon produced by a certain technological power. If Sun Tao hadn't reminded him, Dong Qiangqiang might have truly believed something.
Dong Qiangqiang didn't believe the rumors, but he was always upset when he couldn't read what he wanted to know. What he could learn by calling Dong's mother, Lao Bai, Lele and others was very limited. In desperation, Dong Qiangqiang had to turn his attention to German media, large and small.
The German media has been reporting overwhelmingly since January. Compared with domestic reports, the German media's reports are all-round, multi-dimensional, varied and pervasive, but Dong Qiangqiang actually doesn't like to read them. He didn't know if he was judging a gentleman with a villain's heart. Although the German media's reports were comprehensive, they always gave him a sense of schadenfreude. But a clever woman can't make a meal without rice. At this time, he had no choice. Fortunately, he was rigorous. There is still serious media after all, so he doesn't have to endure the nausea all the time.
He roughly summarized several main views of Germany:
If you encounter a highly contagious disease, the first priority should be to trace the source and find the key "patient zero", that is, the first person to contract the infectious disease. This person is both a victim of the virus and a potential "perpetrator" of spreading the virus. In epidemiology, he is also called the initial case.
Dong Qiangqiang had often read about the concept of "Patient Zero" in different articles before, but he didn't know what the use of finding Patient Zero was. After reading the column, I realized that the information on Patient Zero collected in key places can help the public health department analyze the source of infection, assist in risk assessment, and have the opportunity to determine the outbreak time of the infectious disease and the mode and route of transmission, thus facilitating public health. The department takes effective prevention and control measures as soon as possible to reduce the intensity of infection and control the spread of infection sources.
Dong Qiangqiang vaguely remembered that the first case was discovered in late November, but because the symptoms were mild, he was discharged after recovery. At that time, everyone thought that the matter was over, but they did not expect that the prologue had just begun.
Germans who love to travel around the world accidentally fell into the trap while traveling in a southern city in December and fled back to Germany in disgrace. German doctors also learned from infected Germans that the virus that causes pneumonia will focus on attacking the human respiratory system.
Dong Qiangqiang originally thought that the German media would sneer at this, ridiculing that although Patient Zero had been found early, the prevention and control measures taken were not strong enough. Unexpectedly, the Germans' view was: If you think in the rearview mirror, you can indeed judge like this, but At that time, the practices of the German medical community were probably similar to those in China.
After reading the article, Dong Qiangqiang's first feeling was that he was out of the league, but before he could blame himself, he was surprised to find that although the German media did not ridicule it, it did not mean that they had no opinions, not to mention that this was a group that had never been stingy in criticizing.
In a nutshell: Germans believe that the Chinese people have not shown enough attention and vigilance, but have been overly optimistic. For example, according to convention, after the winter vacation, students from universities, middle schools and primary schools in different cities are about to return to school, but in Germany After investigation, we found that universities, middle schools and primary schools have not done relevant prevention publicity, let alone announced the suspension of classes. Spring has always been a season where respiratory infections are prone to occur. Due to the influence of the climate, it is very easy for certain respiratory infectious diseases to become localized. If the channel of virus infection cannot be cut off in time at this time, we may have to make psychological preparations and response measures to prevent a large-scale outbreak of the disease.
Dong Qiangqiang was convinced by this criticism, but the second criticism was really beyond Dong Qiangqiang's expectation.
In view of the increasingly raging virus, German medical experts have applied to the country to join the unified anti-epidemic front, hoping to join hands with Chinese doctors to fight side by side. But February was almost over, and it was March in the blink of an eye. There were only warnings for local cities in China, and no help was sought from international colleagues. A German doctor interviewed said that this either means that the Chinese people have not yet fully judged the epidemic, or that the Chinese people are fully confident in their own medical system. However, he understood this. After all, every country has its own medical system.
The German media also interviewed domestic medical experts. The expert said that he personally agreed to consider seeking international assistance through relevant legal channels without affecting national security. If you want to conquer the new virus as soon as possible, the more medical research institutions involved you must be. The better.
At the end of the report, the German media also launched a survey on the streets of Germany to understand the attitude of the German people towards whether they should extend help to China.
The survey results once again surprised Dong Qiangqiang. Most of the Germans interviewed said that Germans should support China, and the reason for support is not because of the deep relationship between the two countries, but because "no one is an island and can be safe on his own." Everyone is a piece of the continent, a part of the whole, and anyone’s death is my loss because I am a member of the human race.”
Watching the impassioned statements of the Germans on TV, Dong Qiangqiang's nose felt a little sore. He never thought that the Germans would be so generous, but his tears did not flow down because several more scenes were shown on the TV.
People with anxious faces rushed into the supermarket dragging their families with them, buying like crazy for free. People seemed to have become irrational. There are more than a dozen bags of salt, more than a dozen bottles of white and black vinegar, a dozen masks and several large boxes of mosquito coils in an old man’s shopping basket. Facing the camera, he explains in a vigilant and vague dialect that he will ask for more after a while. Go to other pharmacies to see if isatis root and alcohol are available. The reporter asked what it was, and the old man explained that it was medicine for treating colds and disinfection. Seeing the reporter's interest, the old man complained: He actually didn't want to buy it, but his neighbors were buying it, so he didn't dare to leave it behind. After the panic buying, The price of supplies that originally cost a few yuan a pack has doubled several times, so he went to several stores and still couldn't find anything.
This scene reminded Dong Qiangqiang of the cross talk he heard on the radio when he was a child: sesame paste, two water tanks... MSG, two drawers... But when was that? If the elderly are rushing to buy because of ignorance, how to explain the middle-aged and young people in the crowd who look like intellectuals? They were undoubtedly beguiled by rumors and gossip, but didn’t they have their own judgment?
The German media finally concluded: In response to the strange acute respiratory diseases that began to appear and gradually spread in late 2002, although the series of emergency response measures adopted by the country have imperfections, they are not without merit. There is still a lack of experience in the emergency response mechanism, and the Germans should actually think about it. If this happens in Germany, will Germany definitely do better than China?
(End of chapter)
