In Part 4 of his series on the coronavirus, LBJ Professor Joshua Busby looks at China's domestic response to the outbreak:
"In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, the stories on China's quarantine and population control measures seem downright crazy, with people needing hall passes to go out of their apartments, buildings turning away residents who had been out of town, periodic temperature checks on residents, drones being deployed to disinfect villages or to shame people to go indoors or put on a mask, and health workers deployed in train stations checking phone records of visitors to see where they have been.
...
"Are these draconian measures working? News out of China is confusing. The last few days have seen a decline in the number of new cases which raises hopes that the herculean efforts imposed by the Chinese government (implemented with zeal by local actors) are succeeding."
The full series:
- Part 1: The coronavirus: Global health is high politics
- Part 2: Pull the alarm? The coronavirus as a global emergency
- Part 3: Shut it down? The International Response to the Coronavirus
- Part 4: China and the coronavirus: Getting it right or very wrong?
- Part 5: Now what? Health security after the 2020 coronavirus