Society

The new coronavirus has not yet peaked but is already having serious impacts on the people and businesses of Wuhan and China. Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu looks at the micro and macro effects of the epidemic, from personal accounts to medical and economic forecasts, in this big read on Wuhan.

Zheng Yongnian says every member of Chinese society must act responsibly to see their country through the 2019 Novel Coronavirus epidemic, and it will be a huge tragedy if Chinese people pin their hopes on heroes while society as a whole remains ignorant and incompetent.

Since Dr Li Wenliang's death from the novel coronavirus on 7 February 2020, his name has become shorthand for holding the authorities to account. Beijing correspondent Yu Zeyuan weighs in on its effects on China's social stability and on accountability investigations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting with the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China to discuss the coronavirus and its preventive measures on 3 Feb. However, no actual footage of the meeting was broadcast on state TV. This highly unusual presentation drew speculations. Veteran China affairs journalist Han Yong Hong observes that although the authorities have stepped up its efforts to stem the tide of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the last few days, China has paid a high price.

Dr Li Wenliang was the first to raise the alarm on the Wuhan coronavirus. However, he met with resistance and threats, in efforts to keep him quiet, until eventually he fell ill himself and did not recover. The outpouring of emotion from the internet community says volumes about this people's hero.

Singaporean journalist Edwin Ong shares his story on surviving the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in Chongqing, China. From his observation, the long period of self-isolation is wearing down Chinese residents’ resolve to stay home for everyone’s sake. One tires most by doing nothing.

Graduate student Wei Shuang returned to her hometown in Hebei province for the Chinese New Year holidays, only to land in the eye of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus storm. She shares her personal experience, from the inside.

One month since the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic surfaced, accounts of racism have been reported around the world. Mainland Chinese, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, people of Chinese or Asian descent, have been subjected to unfriendly and sometimes hostile and degrading words and behaviour. But some people are hoping to prove that solidarity in hard times does exist.

Hong Kong, being adjacent to mainland China, is worried about the Wuhan coronavirus. Besides the physical impact, there would be political and economic impacts as well if there is an outbreak. Economics professor Paul Yip examines these possible effects, and explains why Hong Kongers are calling for a complete closure of Hong Kong’s border with China.