The 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is looming large over China's response to the Wuhan coronavirus. Hundreds of people died of SARS, and Chinese authorities were widely criticized for initially downplaying the severity of the disease and censoring news about its spread, potentially causing many more people to become infected.
There were fears that history was repeating itself in Wuhan, with many in China pointing to the discrepancy last week in the number of cases of the new coronavirus being reported overseas while no new cases were being confirmed in Wuhan itself, the center of the outbreak.
That seems to have shifted, however, with Chinese President Xi Jinping ordering "resolute efforts to curb the spread" of the virus Monday. The country's health authorities have since sprung into action, upgrading the response to the virus to the highest level and introducing travel restrictions in Wuhan itself.
The state-run China Daily also issued a forceful editorial this week calling for decisive action and greater transparency:
The health authorities can never be too cautious when dealing with public health hazards, especially when fighting a completely new strain of deadly virus. While measures such as beefing up monitoring and disinfection efforts, and conducting temperature detection at airports and train stations, as Wuhan has already taken, are indispensable, it is also important to keep the public fully informed.
This is a lesson learned during the SARS outbreak at a very high cost in human lives. The country should not have to learn that lesson all over again.
Suspicions of an initial coverup will not go away, however. Wuhan did not introduce any screening measures until January 14, a month after the virus was first identified in the city. In the intervening period, a major meeting of the Hubei provincial party was held in the city, raising concerns an order might have been delayed so as not to disrupt the important political meeting.
Any officials found to have been sluggish to act or trying to downplay the virus will likely face severe punishment from the Beijing authorities. On Tuesday, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission issued a statement that only "sunlight" can destroy the virus:
Deceiving yourself will only make the epidemic worse, and turn a controllable natural disaster into a man-made disaster that brings with it a huge price.
At the beginning of the outbreak 17 years ago, due to insufficient information disclosure and the (concealing of) reports, the spread of the outbreak increased and also greatly hurt the government's integrity and social stability.
This painful lesson (should) keep us from repeating the same mistakes.
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