"The hospital took good care of us, thank them very much!" When recalling the recovery process, a 79-year-old man in Wuhan told the commentator of International Sharp Review.
As the top leaders of China have always stressed since the outbreak, people’s life safety and health should be put in the first place. In Wuhan, the worst epidemic area in China, this has been truly reflected.
This old man named Fu Chunzhi was unfortunately infected with COVID-19 in February this year, and her wife became a suspected case. After careful treatment in Hanyang Campus of Wuhan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the old couple turned to safety after being hospitalized for more than ten days.
In Wuhan, there are many patients like Fu Chunzhi who have come out of the shadow of the epidemic and returned to normal life. By 24: 00 on April 18th, the number of confirmed cases in Wuhan had dropped to 109, and the number of severe cases had decreased to 22. Behind this, it is a hard process in which fresh lives are rescued from the brink of death.
According to an official from National Health Commission, China, the success rate of treatment is about 70% among more than 2,500 patients over the age of 80 diagnosed in Wuhan. Among them, seven centenarians have been cured and discharged. As one of the most difficult groups to treat, the high cure rate of the sick elderly confirms the principle of life first in preventing and controlling the epidemic in China. It has been noted that the the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee meeting held on 17th demanded that Hubei and Wuhan should continue to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control, and treat and care for critically ill patients carefully.
Under the crisis, China’s respect for life and rescue can be seen in the details.
In order to support the fight against the epidemic in Hubei and Wuhan, more than 42,000 medical personnel were dispatched from all over China to rush to help; In order to ensure that all patients should be treated, Wuhan has built a centralized hospital and a number of shelter hospitals in a short time; After national deployment and procurement, artificial lung equipment (ECMO) and other urgently needed medical equipment and materials were sent to Wuhan … … In the face of a major public health emergency with the fastest spread, the widest infection range and the most difficult prevention and control since the founding of New China, "China speed", "China scale" and "China efficiency" are fully displayed, with only one goal — — Save lives to the greatest extent.
According to the official of China, as of April 6th, the per capita medical expenses of hospitalized patients diagnosed in China reached 21,500 yuan, the per capita medical expenses of critically ill patients exceeded 150,000 yuan, and the medical expenses of a few critically ill patients reached several hundred thousand yuan or even more than one million yuan, all of which were reimbursed according to regulations. A financial subsidy policy for personal expenses is brewing. This fundamentally solved the worries of people seeking medical treatment.
China’s efforts to save lives are impressive. Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to the Director-General of WHO who led a team to China for a field trip, said that China knew how to make COVID-19 patients recover, and they made up their minds and invested a lot. "We should use whatever we have and save lives as we can.". Reuters commented that the "incredibly difficult measures" taken by China have protected hundreds of thousands of people from being infected with the virus.
A few days ago, China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, was interviewed by Bremer, president of Eurasia Group. When asked about China’s experience in dealing with the epidemic, he replied that it is most important for China to put people’s lives and health first, especially to protect vulnerable groups, including the elderly, people with basic diseases and the poor, at all costs.
In fact, in the face of crisis, how to save lives tests the conscience and action of a country and society. Only in this extreme situation can people have a deeper examination and reflection on the relationship between individuals and society and between individuals and the state.
In this epidemic, people heard many unfortunate stories. For example, in the United States, the world’s largest developed country, COVID-19 has the largest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the world. The American media described the epidemic as far more traumatic than the "9.11" incident, which shows its great impact on the country’s society.
Some commentators pointed out that an epidemic has highlighted the chronic diseases such as racial discrimination and social injustice in American society. For example, the country’s 29 million uninsured patients have to pay $35,000 for seven days of treatment; People of color have the largest number of reported cases of infection and death. About half of the infected people and 70% of the dead people in Chicago are African-Americans. According to a report by The New York Times on the 17th, since the end of February, at least 7,000 people in the nursing home system in the United States have died in COVID-19, accounting for more than one-fifth of all deaths in the United States.
It is noteworthy that the US government published an 18-page "Re-opening America" document on the 16th, instructing states to restart their economies in three stages, and handing over the final decision-making power to state governors. However, public opinion in the United States believes that the current detection range in COVID-19 is far from reaching the level that people can safely return to work, and the case data does not look as optimistic as the "epidemic peak has passed" declared by American leaders: according to Johns Hopkins University data, as of 6: 40 Beijing time on April 19, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States exceeded 730,000, with more than 38,000 deaths.
Observers believe that the US government’s decision-making mistakes triggered a humanitarian disaster. The root cause, the logic of capital supremacy and the intensification of polarization between the rich and the poor have led to the failure to fully protect the most important right to life of the American people. The concept of "natural selection and survival of the fittest" that westerners firmly believe in forms a paradox with its advertised values of justice and equality, which leads to the interests of socially disadvantaged groups being ignored under the crisis. Many analysts believe that a major consequence of this epidemic is the crisis of western social governance model and values.
Everyone’s life is only once. No matter what kind of social system, respect and protection for life is the basic bottom line. The so-called "this may be life" should never be an excuse for politicians to shirk their responsibilities. Only by letting go of prejudice, abandoning self-interest and strengthening cooperation can we win more time for saving lives. (International Critical Commentator)
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