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Locked in the land of loss and regretting: one month in China under coronavirus siege
- A month has passed since authorities locked down millions of people in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei to contain the epidemic
- Through quiet kindness and sudden trauma, people in the epicentre are confronting a life-altering experience
Reading Time:5 minutes
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It all came without warning. One month ago in the early hours, authorities in the biggest city in the central province of Hubei announced that Wuhan was going into lockdown in response to a coronavirus crisis that just a day earlier had been declared “under control”.
It was an unprecedented moment in the history of China – and the world, and condemned the 9 million people left within the city’s limits to an unknown fate.
Not even at the height of another coronavirus outbreak 17 years earlier had such sweeping controls on movement been imposed on so many people at one time.
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In the weeks since, people in the city have confronted life-altering experiences, whether in a supermarket quest to get basic necessities or in a futile effort to get medical treatment for a relative.
The lockdown remains in place and there is still no sign of when Wuhan’s residents will finally be able to freely leave their homes.
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But even when it’s all over, the city will never be back to “normal”.
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