COVID: In Wuhan where virus was first identified, there is creeping sense more suffering is coming
In the city where it all began, there is a creeping sense more suffering is coming.
Wuhan, the city now known worldwide as COVID-19‘s original epicentre, is experiencing a second surge.
It is two weeks since zero COVID restrictions were suddenly and abruptly reversed in China – exactly what that means in terms of infections and deaths is still unknown.
But three years to the week that the first patient was admitted to a Wuhan hospital with a “pneumonia of unknown origin”, people are again getting sick.
At hospitals across the city we saw ambulances lining up to drop people off and sick people queuing at fever clinics.
Many with symptoms are coming here for medicine, advice and care.
We saw one woman being connected to oxygen, and a panicked father, crying out for help, running with his child slung over his shoulder into the children’s section of the fever clinic.
But the vast majority did not seem overly worried.
In the queue we met Mr Li, who had brought his wife in as she had caught COVID and was suffering with a high fever.
He knew people who died of the disease in 2020 when it was ripping through the city – he thinks and hopes this time will be easier.
“The mentality is different now, in the beginning everyone was pretty scared,” he said.
“Wuhan was the first to have to deal with a new coronavirus outbreak, nobody had any experience.
“People have become more and more aware of COVID and have a certain psychological endurance.
A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident in Wuhan
“At the moment the infection rate is high, but the fatality rate is very low.”
But it’s impossible to know just how high or how low.
Most infections are not being reported here anymore, and deaths are so narrowly defined that officially there have been fewer than 20 in nearly seven months.
Indeed, authorities confirmed on Tuesday that only COVID-positive patients who die of respiratory failure or pneumonia will be counted – anyone with an underlying condition will not.
But experts have predicted there could be hundreds of thousands of deaths by the spring, a million or more in total.
And there are other signs things are getting more serious.
Authorities ‘extremely anxious’
A crematorium on the outskirts of Wuhan was busy, family after family arriving, some dressed in traditional white scarves, others carrying framed pictures of their loved ones.
And authorities were extremely anxious – they made it very hard to film, and two cars of men followed us all day.
Mr Wang runs a small shop selling funeral decorations, he spoke to us as he was listing out what he’d sold that day.
“I’m very busy. This epidemic is lighter than 2020, but it is still more serious than normal,” he said.
“[In 2020] cremations were all handled by the government because there were so many people who died at that time, we couldn’t manage it.
“Now it is not mainly due to COVID that people die, but elderly people with underlying complications that inundate systems, the virus causes underlying diseases and leads to death.”
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But we may never know how widespread those deaths are, the instinct here is to conceal.
That was evident at the wet market where many believe the very first people became infected.
It is now totally boarded off. If you didn’t know it used to be there, you would almost certainly miss it.
Most people here just want to get on with their lives, and many are relaxed in the knowledge that Omicron is less dangerous than what hit their city exactly three years ago.
But there are those who think China has had time to prepare for this moment and didn’t – the very abrupt change in direction will come with consequences.
World
Major wildfire on Greek island of Chios leads to evacuations – as officials warn ‘situation remains critical’
Nearly 200 firefighters are battling a major wildfire on the Greek island of Chios.
The fire started on Sunday in three separate locations near the main town, which is also called Chios. The flames were fanned by strong winds and turned into one large blaze.
Local media footage and photos showed firefighters battling towering flames burning through woodland and farmland as night fell. Power cuts have also been reported.
Greek authorities sent fresh evacuation notifications for two areas near Chios town on Monday morning.
People watch a wildfire approaching. Pic: Politischios.gr /AP
Push alerts have been sent to mobile phones in the area urging people to evacuate a total of 16 villages, settlements and neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the town.
“The situation remains critical as firefighting forces are still dealing with many active fronts, several of which being near hamlets,” a Greek government spokesman said.
The fire department said 190 firefighters were trying to control the fire on Monday, with strong winds hampering their efforts.
Pic: Politischios/AP
Some 35 vehicles, five helicopters and two water-dropping planes were also involved in the effort.
A specialist fire department arson investigation team has been sent to the eastern Aegean island to look into the causes.
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Wildfires are common during Greece’s hot, dry summers but authorities have said climate change is fuelling bigger and more frequent blazes.
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Last year, hundreds of tourists and residents were forced to flee wildfires on the holiday island of Kos.
In 2023, forest fires killed at least 20 people in the north of the country and forced 19,000 people to flee the island of Rhodes.
World
22 killed after suicide bomber opens fire at church in Syria – and then detonates explosive vest
At least 22 people have been killed after a suicide bomber opened fire at a church in Syria – and then detonated an explosive vest.
This is the first such incident since Bashar al Assad was toppled in December, and officials claim the attacker was a member of Islamic State.
It happened at a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, with estimates suggesting that 350 worshippers were praying there at the time.
Pic: White Helmets via Reuters
Witnesses said the perpetrator had his face covered when he began shooting – and blew himself up as crowds attempted to remove him from the building.
A security source told Reuters that two men were involved in the attack, with a priest saying he saw a second gunman at the entrance.
Officials say 63 people were injured, and children were among the casualties.
Syria’s information minister, Hamza Mostafa, condemned the terrorist attack – writing on X: “This cowardly act goes against the civic values that bring us together.
“We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship… and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organisations.”
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Pic: Reuters
Reports suggest that IS has attempted to attack several churches in Syria since Assad fell, but this is the first time they have succeeded.
Footage filmed by Syria’s civil defence, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction inside the church – including bloodied floors and shattered pews.
The Greek foreign ministry says it “unequivocally condemns the abhorrent terrorist suicide bombing”, and called on Syria “to guarantee the safety” of Christians with new measures.
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