Hiya!

I thought for my second post, I’d do a bit about my symptoms and what lead me to getting my diagnosis. Obviously it’s different for everyone, and I got extremely lucky. So bare that in mind! Warning: I get a bit sweary in this one. I have a lot of feelings about it.

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The city I live in, Melbourne, is officially the most locked-down city in the world in relation to COVID-19. After what has been a fucking exhausting few years, we are well and truly over it at this point. But what I didn’t realise going into the first lockdown (last year at some point) was how much I would suffer, and how badly this whole crock of absolute bullshite would affect me. 

Last year in the first lockdown, I was a full-time university student, working as a medical transcriber and at an acting studio, facilitating workshops with directors, casting directors, etc. This was fine for about 2 weeks. Then everything started to fall apart, very slowly. I stopped going to my lectures and my tutorials. I started asking for extensions, more and more often. I had always been a last-minute student, starting essays on the day they were due, with about 3-5 hours set aside to sit and do the whole thing. Throughout school I do not think I did a single bit of homework on time, unless it was something I genuinely wanted to do. I often just didn’t do it, copped a detention, and moved on with my life. 

This is extremely aggravating to me now, seeing that I was around hundreds of educated adults, and. Not. A. Single. Fucking. One. Either knew I was displaying symptoms of ADHD, or cared enough to try and help me. I don’t know what’s worse. It was simply punish the bad student, who never did their homework, and never studied, and never revised, and always forgot the in-class tests, and always struggled with remembering things. So, I adjusted. I still never did my homework, but I stopped caring about classes. I was rude to teachers who were rude to me, and would snap back at any teacher who didn’t show me the same respect they expected from me.

I was so, so angry.

It was completely unfair. I didn’t know why I was the only person who couldn’t do these basic things, like getting my planner signed after every week. So I resorted back to the things society told me I was: stupid, incompetent, lazy. That lead to a not great mindset, which lasted from the ages of about 13-20. I still struggle with a lot of these things, but in different contexts.

Anyway, the ways I coped at school started to fall apart at university. And they really fell apart with lockdown. Being in my house for 23 hours a day, with incredibly stringent rules, meant my ADHD just pent up. I couldn’t do anything. Not even things I wanted to do, and the pressure of deadlines weren’t enough to prod my brain into action. I just couldn’t do anything.

I figured this wasn’t normal, and one day I saw a post on ADHD in AFAB people. I read through it, and it resonated with me. Odd, I don’t have excess energy. In fact, I would oversleep constantly. Often, 12 hours a night wasn’t enough for me, and I would fall asleep at 2am. Caffeine would put me to sleep! My partner at the time would be on my back about how much I slept, constantly. He didn’t understand my ADHD presentation, which is reasonable, because I didn’t either. He would get irritated because the second I got any money, I wouldn’t save it. I’d buy things. I’d constantly put on weight because I would buy sugary snacks whenever I could. I would say yes to anything that would give me a second of joy.

When you have ADHD, your dopamine is running on empty. So everything you do is to try and boost your dopamine. It leads to a lot of behaviours that people see as irresponsible and reckless, because they can be. But it’s because our brains are screaming out for dopamine hits, however big, however long lasting. Now I know this, and can stop myself before doing these dopamine-seeking behaviours (the medications obviously help).

Reading this post about ADHD, I didn’t immediately do a deep-dive of research. I forgot about it for a while. I remembered my mum telling me when I was young that I “probably had some form of ADD, or something like that” after I spilled my guts about something that had been on my mind. I would start talking, and not stop. More and more of these little pieces started clicking. Then, I started doing actual research. I can’t remember details because, y’know, ADHD. But these symptoms started making sense. Not being able to control my impulses? Check. I am obscenely impulsive. Not being able to keep relationships? Check. Half of my friends from school in England I wanted to keep in contact with, I had completely deserted. Memory issues, not being able to keep a routine, missing deadlines, having slightly “kooky” interests, hyperfocusing, the paralysis I would feel when there were so many things to do, and I just sat in bed for 6 hours doing nothing, not eating.

I sat and cried on my partner’s bed while he comforted me. I cried over the fact I had an answer. I wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t lazy. 

From there, I pursued a diagnosis. This was tricky: I tried three different clinics (one of which lost my referral 4 times! Shout out Alfred Road Clinic lol), and emailed different ADHD psychiatrists like crazy. I got no responses.

6 months after my initial referral, I cried to my family about how frustrating it was, knowing what was wrong with me, knowing there was treatment, but not being able to access it. Imagine how frustrating it is not being able to do anything, knowing there is a way to help, but not having access to it.

Eventually, a few strings were tugged, and I got an appointment in June 2021. July 2021, I was put on Vyvanse 30mg by my psychiatrist.

The first day I took my medication, I sat and did my Korean homework for 2 hours. Then, I sat and cried. I have never concentrated for 2 hours on demand like that.

I was furious, relieved, and incredibly sad for the 23 years I had lost, feeling like my body and mind were two separate entities. Having all these things I wanted to achieve, and achieving none. I learnt so many things were coping mechanisms I used to balance my ADHD brain: trying to be early as possible to avoid being late. Notes on my phone reminding me of everything I need to do. Double checking things three, four times.

All these things I wanted to try, and having tried none. Not being able to exercise as it made me sleepy and I never felt the benefits. Finding certain things unbearable for no reason. Getting in trouble for stupid things just because I couldn’t convince myself the dopamine payoff would be worth it. Having built nearly no skills as a young person because I had no direction. This was compounded by my want to achieve, but feeling that I couldn’t do anything, because this invisible barrier kept me in a snowglobe of my own shame and frustration. All because my stupid fucking brain was too busy trying to get hits of dopamine whenever and wherever it could. 

I thought about how my A Level results would have been different if any of the adults in my life had clocked this when I was 13.

I thought about the things I could have achieved if anyone had thought to investigate just a little further.

I still cry about these things. The me that was prevented from living by ADHD taunts me from another dimension. Cow.

I needed to start to get to know myself without the dopamine addict brain. What I want to achieve, what was now possible, and how to avoid feeling like I will never achieve anything I want to. My main goal is to start having 3 meals a day, something I have never, ever been able to sustainably do. I’m still working on this.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Portland protests see clashes between far-right, far-left groups (Reuters) Protests by rival far-right and left-wing groups in Portland descended into violence on Sunday, as the opposing sides engaged in clashes and at least one man was arrested for firing a gun at demonstrators. Nobody was hurt in an exchange of gunfire—and by Sunday evening there was no word on any injuries in numerous other skirmishes that saw opposing sides brawling, dousing each other in what appeared to be bear spray and breaking car windows of rivals. Police Chief Chuck Lovell said during a briefing on Friday that officers would not necessarily intervene to break up fights between the groups. But he added that “just because arrests are not made at the scene when tensions are high, does not mean that people won’t be charged with crimes.”

Henri hurls rain as system settles atop swamped Northeast (AP) The slow-rolling system named Henri is taking its time drenching the Northeast with rain, lingering early Monday atop a region made swampy by the storm’s relentless downpour. Henri, which made landfall as a tropical storm Sunday afternoon in Rhode Island, has moved northwest through Connecticut. It hurled rain westward far before its arrival, flooding areas as far southwest as New Jersey before pelting northeast Pennsylvania, even as it took on tropical depression status. Over 140,000 homes lost power, and deluges of rain closed bridges, swamped roads and left some people stranded in their vehicles.

Classes starting, but international students failing to get U.S. visas (Reuters) Kofi Owusu occasionally waits outside the U.S. embassy in Accra to ask fellow students what they have done to secure a timely visa appointment. Classes for his master’s program at Villanova University in Pennsylvania are scheduled to start Monday, but his in-person interview appointment for a first-time U.S. student visa is still nine months away. It’s the second time the political science student from Ghana won’t make it to the United States in time for school. Visa processing is delayed as U.S. embassies and consulates operate at reduced capacity around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving some students abroad unable to make it for the start of the academic year. The wait and the hassle threaten both the country’s standing as a preferred choice for international students and their economic contribution of around $40 billion annually to many universities and local economies. New international student enrollment in the United States dropped 43% in fall 2020 from the year prior, months after COVID sent the world into lockdown. The number of new students who actually made it onto campus in person declined by 72%, according to an enrollment survey by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

FDA approves Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (Bloomberg) The pioneering coronavirus vaccine made by pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Pfizer was granted full approval by U.S. regulators. The government imprimatur is expected to trigger a flood of mandates by municipalities, agencies and private employers that had been waiting for the Food and Drug Administration sign-off. Following the announcement, the Pentagon said it would make vaccinations mandatory for military personnel worldwide and President Joe Biden called for mandates by companies.

Hospitals and Insurers Didn’t Want You to See Their Prices (NYT) This year, the federal government ordered hospitals to begin publishing a prized secret: a complete list of the prices they negotiate with private insurers. The insurers’ trade association had called the rule unconstitutional and said it would “undermine competitive negotiations.” Four hospital associations jointly sued the government to block it, and appealed when they lost. They lost again, and seven months later, many hospitals are simply ignoring the requirement and posting nothing. But data from the hospitals that have complied hints at why the powerful industries wanted this information to remain hidden. It shows hospitals are charging patients wildly different amounts for the same basic services: procedures as simple as an X-ray or a pregnancy test. And in many cases, insured patients are getting prices that are higher than they would if they pretended to have no coverage at all. This secrecy has allowed hospitals to tell patients that they are getting “steep” discounts, while still charging them many times what a public program like Medicare is willing to pay.

‘A Beautiful Feeling’: Refugee Women In Germany Learn The Joy Of Riding Bikes (NPR) Like most Americans, I learned to ride a bike as a kid. I still remember the glee after learning how to ride a bike on a subdivision road where I grew up in Florida. But girls around the world don’t always get to experience the joy of a first bike ride. In some countries, conservative societies frown upon women and girls who ride bikes—it’s not considered dignified or appropriate—and gives a girl too much independence. Joumana Seif, a Syrian lawyer and activist, recalls riding a bike as an 11-year-old in the capital city of Damascus. “For the people [watching on the street], and even for the children, it was shocking to them that I was riding a bike. They started to say, ‘Oh, shame on you, you are a girl riding a bike,’” Seif says. “It just wasn’t in our culture.” But it’s never too late to learn. In Germany, a nonprofit group called Bikeygees is teaching refugee women from countries such as Iran, Iraq and Syria how to ride. Since the group first started, it has taught 1,100 women how to ride a bike, says founder Annette Krüger. “It is possible to change the life of a woman in two hours. It is really magical,” says Krüger, an avid cyclist. “It’s a beautiful feeling when a person is riding a bike,” one refugee says with a broad grin.

Gunfire at Kabul airport kills 1 amid chaotic evacuations (AP/Foreign Policy) A firefight at one of the gates of Kabul’s international airport killed at least one Afghan soldier early Monday, German officials said, the latest chaos to engulf Western efforts to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country. The shooting at the airport came as the Taliban sent fighters north of the capital to eliminate pockets of armed resistance to their lightning takeover earlier this month. The Taliban said they retook three districts seized by opponents the day before and had surrounded Panjshir, the last province that remains out of their control. The tragic scenes around the airport have transfixed the world. Afghans poured onto the tarmac last week and some clung to a U.S. military transport plane as it took off, later plunging to their deaths. At least seven people died that day, in addition to the seven killed Sunday. Tens of thousands of people—Americans, other foreigners and Afghans who assisted in the war effort—are still waiting to join the airlift, which has been slowed by security issues and U.S. bureaucracy hurdles. Meanwhile, Afghanistan faces a quickly deepening economic crisis, with financial hardships increasingly affecting those in Kabul and other cities. Banks remain closed, food prices are rising, and the value of the local currency has plummeted. The suspension of commercial flights to Kabul’s international airport has in some ways exacerbated the crisis, halting the flow of some medical supplies and aid.

US special operations forces race to save former Afghan comrades in jeopardy (ABC News) Current and former U.S. military special operations and intelligence community operatives are using their own networks of contacts to get elite Afghan soldiers, intelligence assets and interpreters to safety as they’ve become increasingly disillusioned and fed up with the U.S. government-led evacuation effort in Kabul, ABC News has learned. One informal group, dubbed “Task Force Pineapple,” began as a frantic effort last weekend to get one former Afghan commando into Hamid Karzai International Airport as he was being hunted by Taliban who were texting him death threats. They knew he had worked with U.S. Special Forces and the elite SEAL Team Six for a dozen years, targeting Taliban leadership, and was therefore at high risk of reprisal. The former elite commando was finally pulled into the U.S. security perimeter at the airport, where he shouted the password “pineapple” to American troops at the checkpoint. Two days later, the group of his American friends and comrades also helped get his family inside the airport to join him. Other former members of the military and CIA have consolidated their own efforts with a separate group calling itself “Task Force Dunkirk,” a reference to the massive evacuation of British and other Allied forces from France in 1940 under threat of the Nazi juggernaut. Task Force Dunkirk and the groups it has banded together with have helped get at least 83 at-risk Afghans out of the country.

Lebanese hospitals at breaking point as everything runs out (AP) Drenched in sweat, doctors check patients lying on stretchers in the reception area of Lebanon’s largest public hospital. Air conditioners are turned off, except in operating rooms and storage units, to save on fuel. Medics scramble to find alternatives to saline solutions after the hospital ran out. The shortages are overwhelming, the medical staff exhausted. And with a new surge in coronavirus cases, Lebanon’s hospitals are at a breaking point. The country’s health sector is a casualty of the multiple crises that have plunged Lebanon into a downward spiral—a financial and economic meltdown, compounded by a complete failure of the government, runaway corruption and a pandemic that isn’t going away. The collapse is all the more dramatic since only a few years ago, Lebanon was a leader in medical care in the Arab world. The region’s rich and famous came to this small Mideast nation of 6 million for everything, from major hospital procedures to plastic surgeries.

China changes law to allow married couples to have three kids (NY Post) China will now allow married couples to legally have a third kid amid concerns that its shrinking number of working-age people will threaten the country’s future prosperity and global influence. China has tried for decades to control the population, beginning with a policy imposed in 1979 that strictly limited couples to one child. Couples who didn’t follow the rule faced fines or loss of jobs—and in some cases, mothers were forced to undergo abortions. A preference for sons also led parents to kill baby girls, causing a massive imbalance in the sex ratio. The number of working-age people, meanwhile, has fallen over the past decade and the population has barely grown, adding more strain to an aging society. With growing fears that the country would grow old before it became wealthy, the family planning rules were changed for the first time in 2015 to allow two children.

Cases up down under (CNN) Australia, like China, New Zealand, and some other countries, has attempted to completely eradicate Covid-19 inside its borders. The strategy had largely worked until recently; Australia has just 44,026 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 981 deaths. But several major cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, and the capital Canberra, are again under lockdown as authorities struggle to contain an outbreak of the Delta variant. On Saturday, thousands took to the streets of Melbourne and Sydney to protest the long lockdowns; hundreds were arrested, and at least seven police officers were injured during violent clashes. In an opinion piece published Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison hinted at an end to the country’s zero Covid-19 infections strategy, but warned Australians to expect a rise in infections as restrictions relax.

COVID AND DEMOCRACY PART 4

https://grahamperryonchina.com/?p=2092 COVID AND DEMOCRACY PART 4 - VACCINATION, INDIA, AND RACE HATE IN THE USA MAY 2021 This is the last in a series of four articles on the topic of Covid and Democracy. Democracy is often used by the US/UK and other countries as the point of significant difference relied upon by the West to undermine and belittle China. The West’s thinking is along with the following; The West is democratic; it has one man, one vote; tyranny has been overcome; the people are in control; they are free to elect their governments; democracy has trumped autocracy. In these articles, I have argued that democracy is about freedom. Still, it is also about governance and the government’s credibility, and when Covid-19 challenged all governments the world over, why did the US/UK perform so badly and, relatively speaking, China perform so well? And in support of my argument, I looked at the death count in the three countries. In the US/UK, with a combined population of 400m, why was the death count as high as 730,000 and in China, with a population of 1.41bn, why was the death count as low as 10,000? One person questioned my personal sense of morality in comparing the figures for loss of life. But democracy is about the ability of governments to look after the safety, health and well-being of their people and by that standard, the US/UK failed, and China succeeded. As China is battered for its reliance on the leadership of the Communist Party and its alleged totalitarian apparatus, which, the critics say, denies freedom to Chinese citizens and condemns them to servitude, hardship and oppression, it is worth asking the question which population was better looked after by its government? One government, after initial hesitancy, took decisive action, imposed a lockdown, closed the streets and the parks and the airports whilst two other governments were indecisive, gave contradictory messages and were, ultimately, casual with the lives of their two peoples. Individuals, CEO’s, heads of schools, parents, hospitals, plants and all organisations are in one way or another put to the test. The question is asked – Can they rise to the occasion and provide leadership when danger threatens? It is for these reasons that reviewing the figures for loss of life is a very correct and relevant format to use in assessing leaders’ abilities to lead. Xi Jinping rose to the occasion. Johnson and Trump fell short. So how do we assess the role of vaccinations in the pandemic? In one sense, Johnson had a big achievement. He was able to secure the jabs and make them available in an organised manner to the UK people. Trump was slower, but Biden has made vaccination the main policy and has provided increased protection to US citizens. And, of course, looking after your constituents is an achievement. It is part of the test of the Government to protect its people, and providing vaccination is evidence that the people have been protected – even if the same government was very slow in imposing lockdown as late as March 2020, causing unnecessary deaths. But UK vaccinations have gone to UK citizens, and US vaccinations have overwhelmingly gone to US citizens. China, with a population of 1.4bn, has pursued a quite different path. First, it attacked the pandemic – relentlessly and aggressively. Contrary to the casual approach of Trump and Johnson, Xi Jinping closed down cities, airports, trains and shops. Citizens were instructed, not asked, to remain indoors on pain of arrest. Two large hospitals were built from scratch with 8 days. The pandemic was beaten back. Strong and decisive action protected the people of China, and deaths have been restricted to less than 10,000 people. Second China, instead of setting about the vaccination of all its people, decided on a dual policy. Vaccinations were necessary for China, and vaccinations were necessary overseas. The numbers tell a story about governance and democracy. 7 May 2021 was a significant date – the WHO added Sinopharm’s vaccine to its emergency use list for the Covid-19 pandemic – the first from a developing country. Sage experts conducted on-site inspections at the production facility in China before approving worldwide distribution. The FT recently reported that Chinese jabs were dominating vaccination campaigns in Latin America. China has shipped more than half of the 143.5m doses of vaccines delivered to the region’s 10 most highly populated countries. China – 75.8m doses; AstraZeneca + Pfizer – 59m doses and Russia 8.7m. The Turkish Health Minister, Mr F Koca, said Turkey prefers China’s “inactivated vaccines” to the technology of Pfizer/Moderna because the latter “require difficult and costly cold-chain handling compared with China’s inactivated vaccines”. The UAE and Bahrein have officially registered the Sinopharm vaccine, and inoculations have already started for residents in Abu Dhabi. Morocco has ordered 10m doses, and Jordan is carrying out Sinopharm clinical trials. Clare Wenham, Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy, said,” We see increased Chinese dominance as a health power”. This reflects Xi Jinping’s Win-Win philosophy – a recognition, like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), that the World prospers if progress is shared. The West will misrepresent China’s policy because the West is challenged by China. Why doesn’t China use all its vaccine for its 1.4bn people? Because of China-controlled Covid-19 by decisive action in February/March 2020. US/UK deaths – 730,000. China deaths – less than 10,000. The numbers matter. They tell a story. Whereas the US and the UK, with one eye on electoral popularity, are gobbling up every jab available without supplying to the rest of the world, China has maintained tight control over Covid-19 at home while distributing considerable doses to the world at large. They also tell another story. China has been represented as a mass manufacturer of soft consumer goods as Western companies piled into China from 2000 onwards – sweaters, trainers, deckchairs, trinkets, fireworks. Now Made in China will be remembered for life-saving vaccinations and drugs. Beijing’s strategic pivot away from low-tech manufacturing to quality construction projects, highways, new ports, and now vaccinations will change how developing countries view China. The West will say that China seeks political leverage and power in political circles. Actually, No. China’s achievement will be the reputational gain – a country fully aware of the vital need to help and assist the world’s countries in achieving mutual prosperity. This is not hegemony but a realisation that the long-term gain to the world community is to facilitate well-being, growth and progress. Past world powers have all been hegemonists and imperialists. The significance of China will be that “Win-Win” prevails over “All-For-Me”. China will not exploit weaker countries for their own benefit. This will only become apparent when historians come to write the history of the current century.  But significant world changes are taking place now that will grow in importance as the Century progresses, as the US settles in at #2 economic power. China champions a new attitude to world development. China and India are often thrown together in comparison. Both have large populations – 1.4bn/1.3bn – both are non-White countries – both became independent at the same time, China in 1949 and India in 1947 – and both countries expelled the British. It was not an accident of history that the British took the opium seeds from the hills of India and converted them into the drug that created addicts the length and breadth of China. The similarities disappear when it comes to the Pandemic as we view the distressing Indian TV footage of families carrying their dead ones to crematorium only to be turned away at the gates; the individual Indians pleading for help with oxygen, hospital beds, and medical treatment. The loss of life is considerable, and on 27 April, India recorded 3,876 deaths according to the Health Ministry – statistics likely to be very under-expressed as they will not include deaths at home or full burial numbers. India is grappling with the world’s worst Covid-19 epidemic as cases on 27 April rose by 329,942. Hospitals are full. Supplies are short, and human misery is on every street corner. On 20 May, India reported 276,110 cases over the last 24 hours and 3,874 deaths, bringing the country total to 25.77 million infections and 287,122 fatalities. Chinese people are not better than Indian people. There is no racial argument here at all.  But Chinese authoritarianism is better than Indian democracy when it comes to governance and the protection of the public. Having “One Man, One Vote” counts for nothing if the government cannot organise oxygen supplies, deliver hospital beds; procure vaccinations; set up vaccination centres; provide emergency crematoria, arrange home visits, organise mourning periods; protect schools; arrange on-the-spot testing.  It is back to the wider question of What Works. When crisis comes, and a Government has to look after its people, the system of Indian democracy failed the Indian population, and as we advance, this lesson will not be lost on developing countries trying to find the right formula for bringing law, order, prosperity, housing and medical supplies to their people. Finally, I want to comment on the surge in anti-Asian racism in the US since the pandemic commenced. On 29 March 2021, 65-year-old Vilma Kari was brutally assaulted on her way to church in New York. The crime made headlines in her home country of the Philippines, where Vice President Robredo and Senator Pacquiao, both prospective presidential candidates, were quick to pick up on video film that showed the assailant, Brandon Elliott, a 38-year-old homeless man, yelling, “You don’t belong here” before kicking and punching the victim in the face. The incident was part of a recent spike in anti-Asian violence across the US. Even as overall hate crimes declined in 2020, it is the case that anti-Asian hate crimes reported to the police rose nearly 150% in 16 of the largest US cities, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in California State University, San Bernandino.  The trend was underlined by the 16 March 2021 killing of six women of Asian descent near Atlanta, Georgia, which ignited protests in the US and sent shockwaves through Asia. Specifically, to China, an assault on a 76-year-old woman in San Francisco triggered anger when shown on video in China, which led to a strong narrative about the US abusive treatment of native Indians, African slaves and Chinese labourers. Many blame former President Trump, who appealed directly to white nationalism and stirred anti-China sentiment at home and abroad, often referring to Covid-19 as the “China virus” and attacking China’s trade policies as “economic rape”. And the incidence of hate crimes has not abated under President Biden. Yuen Yuen Ang is a Politics Professor at the University of Michigan. He writes that “It is common to portray US-China relations as ‘a clash of civilisations’ – two cultural opposites with nothing in common. This narrative is unhelpful and misleading. It induces Americans to perceive the Chinese as weird and consequently threatening…While most people avoid overt racism, orientalism creeps in easily and unconsciously as people view China as the land of lanterns and dragons. Imagining an entire race of people as strange and exotic dehumanises them. Once a person ceases to see other people as human, it becomes easy to hate and inflict violence. Racism stalks the streets of US cities. It was there before Trump, but his free-wheeling right-wing US First agenda has fired up racial antagonisms with the last year of his term in office dominated by an anti-China agenda. “Reds Under the Beds” was a term from the Cold War of the 1950s. It has been revived as Pompeo and now Blinken claim that China is a genocidal nation. It is not a surprise that the Ash School of Government at Harvard University found that Chinese students and tourists returning home after a visit to the US had an even greater commitment to China and its style of democracy. Covid-19 is a pandemic that has thrown up many questions about individual well-being, public health policies, government capability and democratic effectiveness. There will be investigations into the origins of the virus, the performance of governments, the policies on vaccination and vaccination distribution. There will be allegations and counter-allegations. Big issues are on the table with important consequences for the long term well-being of the Earth’s inhabitants, and answers will be sought to key questions relating to the ability of democratic and authoritarian governments to handle the demands made upon them by the virus. There is an indication that control of the virus may now be underway. The focus will switch to how governments discharged their primary responsibility to maintain the safety and well being of their populations. GRAHAM  PERRY MAY 2021 - - https://grahamperryonchina.com/?p=2092

In a Fearful China, Its Dr. Fauci Wins Hearts With Restraint China has imposed some of the toughest lockdowns in the world to stop Covid-19. One city sealed apartment doors, leaving residents with dwindling food and medicine. One village tied a local to a tree after he left home to buy cigarettes. Beijing forced people to leave their pets behind when they went into quarantine. Few officials spoke up against the excesses, given the central government’s obsession with its anti-coronavirus campaign. That hasn’t stopped Dr. Zhang Wenhong. Dr. Zhang, an infectious-disease specialist and perhaps China’s most trusted voice on Covid-19, has spoken out publicly against excessive lockdowns, though he hasn’t criticized individual cities. Fighting the pandemic, he likes to say, is like “catching mice in a china shop.” “We hope that our pandemic prevention measures won’t affect public life too much,” Dr. Zhang wrote on Jan. 24, after a second wave of infections prompted tough clampdowns. “If we pursue the goal of zero infection,” he said in a video a few days later, “life would be too hard.” Dr. Zhang may be China’s closest analogue to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the American infectious-disease specialist who became the public face of stopping the coronavirus amid the chaos of the Trump administration. A consummate technocrat, Dr. Zhang comes across as neither political nor ideological. Yet, by offering his expert opinions straight, he pushes back against the authoritarian instinct in a system that often overreacts with draconian measures. A top academic at Fudan University in Shanghai and a member of the Communist Party, Dr. Zhang led Shanghai’s expert panel on Covid-19, giving him considerable authority over the city’s response. Unlike Dr. Fauci, who urged the Trump administration to do more, Dr. Zhang championed a more strategic approach for a country that didn’t take coronavirus half-measures. In doing so, he spoke to the Chinese public with respect, a refreshing change from the way others in authority often carry themselves. Dr. Zhang is especially popular among professionals and technocrats who admire him for his sincerity in a society plagued by propaganda, conspiracy theories and crude nationalism. “At this moment, rumors are more terrifying than the virus,” he said at the beginning of the outbreak. “We need to explain the epidemic to the public with rational data and professional knowledge.” “Zhang Wenhong leads a magical existence in China,” wrote Zhu Xuedong, the former editor in chief of the liberal-leaning magazine Nanfengchuang, on WeChat’s social media timeline. “He uses rational, scientific and civilized words to gently resist all the arrogance, greed and brazenness in this premodern society,” Mr. Zhu wrote. “He gives us warmth, consolation and hope.” Dr. Zhang did not respond to requests for comment. In today’s China, getting ahead often means speaking in the language of the Communist Party. Those who refuse to ride the ideological tide keep their independence by keeping quiet. By contrast, Dr. Zhang has earned an ability to speak freely. Shanghai, a city of 24 million people, has had only 371 local infections and seven deaths. It managed those numbers with fewer restrictions than the city of Beijing, with 21 million residents, 828 local infections and nine deaths. His forecasts — delivered in his characteristic rapid-fire Mandarin, tinged with a soft Shanghai accent — have been on the mark. He predicted early on that the pandemic could last at least one to two years. A year ago this month, when China was still virtually shut down, he said China had left its darkest hours behind. Journalists began to seek him out. Some of his responses became internet memes. A few examples: “Influenza is not a cold, just like a tiger is not a cat.” “You’re bored to death at home, so the virus will be bored to death, too.” Updated  March 12, 2021, 7:49 p.m. ET “Stay away from fire, thieves and your colleagues.” His Weibo social media account, which he started in the middle of last year, has 3.6 million followers. Many of his videos have been viewed tens of millions of times. An article he co-wrote on the pandemic’s global prospects last March, when Europe and the United States were exploding with infections, was viewed more than 860 million times on his department’s official WeChat account alone. Maintaining a high profile in China often requires discretion. Late last year, Jack Ma, the technology billionaire, publicly criticized regulators. The authorities quickly swooped down on his business empire. Dr. Zhang doesn’t challenge the government, but neither does he always toe the official line. Late last year, some Chinese officials pointed to findings that the virus had been found on the packaging of imported food, suggesting that the coronavirus may have been brought to China from overseas. Dr. Zhang has told his audience not to worry about it: “The chance of catching the virus from imported goods,” he said, “is lower than dying in a plane crash.” “I’m not going to hide the information because I’m worried that I could say something wrong and cause some controversies,” he said over the summer. “We always share what we know.” Dr. Zhang, 51, was born in Rui’an, a small town by Chinese standards 300 miles south of Shanghai. He attended Shanghai Medical University, now part of Fudan University, and trained at hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School and Hong Kong University. He heads the infectious disease department at Huashan Hospital of Fudan, sees patients two half-days a week and teaches classes as a professor. His self-deprecating humor stands in contrast to China’s stern, self-important officials. He calls himself a “country bumpkin.” His gym membership often goes unused. When he is tired, he says, he likes to watch stupid television shows. His nicknames bestowed by his online fans include “the most courageous doctor” and “Daddy Zhang.” Roughly translated, some middle-age women call him their “Mr. Perfect.” Dr. Zhang’s comments have sometimes drawn criticism from Chinese nationalists who increasingly drive public opinion in the country. They called him a traitor who worships the Western lifestyle when he told parents to feed their children eggs and milk in the morning instead of congee, the traditional Chinese breakfast. He responded that protein helps build the immune system. Still, he has kept a high profile without drawing major ire from the government or sustained criticism from the nationalists. Some of that stems from China’s pride in quickly containing the coronavirus. Dr. Zhang, who played a role in that, has won a number of awards from official groups. In watching his speeches, I found another key to his sustained appeal. In his impromptu speech at a national teaching award ceremony in September, he said the essence of education is acknowledging human dignity. Mr. Zhang appeals to the humanity of his audience and, by admitting his own foibles, shows the authorities and the public that he is merely human, too. In one speech, he mentioned that some victims of avian flu had caught it from taking care of their infected loved ones, and that female patients were more likely to infect their doting mothers than their absent husbands. “At that moment,” he told the audience, “I lost faith in romantic love.” When he rolled up his sleeve to get a second vaccine injection, he told journalists that he hadn’t expected cameras to be there. “Otherwise,” he said, “I would have worked on my deltoid.” In an interview last June, a reporter asked him whether anybody had reminded him to be mindful of his status as an expert and the head of an expert government panel. “People are smart,” he responded. “They know whether you’re telling them truth or lies.” When he gets public accolades, he often uses the occasion to highlight his causes, like more funding for infectious-disease research and for increasing the public awareness of tuberculosis and hepatitis B, two of the most common infectious diseases in China. He also talks about people who deserved more attention, like the women among the pandemic responders whose role has often taken a back seat to the men’s in the media. “Men are on camera more,” he said at a forum on the subject, “but women did more work.” Then he turned to the female medical workers, and bowed. Source link Orbem News #China #Fauci #Fearful #hearts #Restraint #wins

COVID19 Updates: 01/06/2021

California:   San Bernardino County reports more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases, doubling its previous record for a single-day increase

California:  How bad is LA County's hospital crisis? Paramedic gives frontline view of desperate situation LINK

California:  Southern California Clinical Trials To Begin Of COVID Vaccine For Kids LINK

RUMINT (Southern US):  I work in one of the largest bread distributors in the southern United states, I load trailers for a bakery company , doesn't mean I work for them , we are a partner company , we prepare the bread to be loaded to each destination, we have 42 outbound docks , 4 inbound docks and 8 local docks . We also have 10 docks we use for unloading trailers ..lately people have been dropping like flies due to Covid. We are down almost 30 workers on our side of the warehouse , not sure about bimbo bakery side . Its affecting our production intensely. They are making all healthy employees work 5 10 hour days or 6 8 hour days . I just wanted to let you know , that we might not have a bread line for this second wave . This virus has us in a vice grip . Im on lunch, I will report back when I can .

RUMINT (UK):  A little update from our 4000-population town in the middle of nowhere (Wales)...Until very recently, we were getting 0-2 cases per week. During the latter half of December, the rolling 7-day total inched up to 6, then 11 a couple of days ago... and today, 34. The last two weeks have generated half the entire number of cases in the pandemic. There's been no obvious relaxation (most people are perpetually moderately cautious here), Christmas and New Year were quiet, and we've been in lockdown since before Christmas. It's hard to see any explanation that doesn't involve much higher transmissability... but this is bad news. This looks like a major explosion is on the cards, unless the lock-down gets *much* stricter. Given this town has zero ICUs and a predominantly aging population... the worst case scenario is that surrounding hospitals (South Wales, Hereford) get filled up before this place falls apart. I'm wondering whether the most tragic points of the pandemic are going to be in small towns like this, once we can't borrow hospital resources from elsewhere.

Norway:  Norwegian Covid-19 Infections Increase, Virus R Number Increases To 1.4 - FHI

Hong Kong:  Hong Kong detects UK COVID-19 variant in Filipina domestic helper who arrived from Manila LINK

World:  Here's how mutations could help the coronavirus evade vaccines LINK (drip, drip, drip...)

UK:  Covid-19: West Midlands Ambulance Service records busiest day LINK

Opinion Found on Web:  So here's my take on the current situation. But first some History: In 1872 there was a flu epidemic, nothing serious, normal levels of people died. Between 1872 and 1918 the Virus mutated, first it had jumped to horses, from humans, then to birds and back to humans. Virus's for whatever reason can mutate faster in animals. Ultimately the new strain caused the 1918 Spanish Flu. This is historical fact. I realise that Covid 19 is not a flu but there do seem to be some stark similarities here with 1918. First the 'first wave' was not too serious and mainly infected the old. But I believe it has mutated to a more lethal form for those in their 20's to 40's. I further believe the UK Government know this and had no choice but to lock down. I would say we are now at the equivalent stage of the real start of the 'second wave', which for Spanish Flu was the real killer. How could I be proved correct? Within 1 month we will all know for sure either way, if this is the true second wave, the numbers will ramp up very quickly until we reach a CFR of 3%.

Portugal:  #BREAKING Portugal detects record 10,000 Covid cases in 24h: health authority

RUMINT (UK):  Thought I’d chime in and offer updates as I work in the medical sector. I’m not on the front line however I can provide another perspective into what’s happening in the UK. At my workplace they view the vaccine as the only way out. Literally. There’s also conflict with those at the ‘top’ and those working on the ground. Dare I say cover up? One thing I will say is that our hospitals are on its knees. If the vaccine doesn’t work and I honestly don’t think it will, then I don’t want to imagine what will happen.

UK: COVID update: Record 62K new cases and more than 1,000 new deaths for the first time since April - New cases: 62,322 - In hospital: 31,667 (+1,433) - In ICU: 2,829 (+186) - New deaths: 1,041

California:  San Diego health officials report 32 cases of UK COVID-19 variant LINK

UK:  IRISH DEPUTY PM SAYS IF I WAS A BUSINESS I WOULD BE THINKING I WILL PROBABLY BE CLOSED UNTIL THE END OF MARCH

UK:  Ireland reports record 7,836 new coronavirus cases, number in hospital continues to rise - New cases: 7,836 - Positivity rate: 24.2% (+1.9) - In hospital: 954 (+114) - In ICU: 88 (+12) - New deaths: 17.  Ireland's chief medical officer: "There is evidence of an increasing presence of the UK variant in Ireland. All counties have an upward trajectory of the disease."

World:  PFIZER SAYS SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTIONS HAVE BEEN REPORTED FOLLOWING CO'S COVID-19 VACCINE DURING MASS VACCINATION OUTSIDE OF CLINICAL TRIALS

Netherlands:  NEW: Netherlands reports 50 cases of coronavirus mutation first found in the UK, including 30 cases linked to an elementary school 

World:  Carnival extends cruise cancellations through March LINK

China:  On Wednesday, the Chinese mainland reported: - 63 new #COVID19 cases: 52 domestically transmitted cases (51 in Hebei, 1 in Liaoning) - 485 active cases in total, including 13 in critical condition - 79 new asymptomatic cases: 8 from overseas

South Africa: reports 21,832 new coronavirus cases, by far the biggest one-day increase on record - New cases: 21,832 - Positivity rate: 31.2% (+1.1) - In hospital: 13,402 (+191) - In ICU: 1,845 (+43) - New deaths: 392 (+452 backlog)

California:  Los Angeles County COVID update: More than 250 new deaths, number in hospital reaches 8K - New cases: 11,841 - Positivity rate: 21.8% - In hospital: 8,023 (+125) - In ICU: 1,605 (-54) - Available ICU: 0% (-) - New deaths: 258

Headlines

Declining Western birth rates (Nikkei Asian Review) Births in many developed countries are poised to crater next year amid the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic and, in many cases, the botched response. Japan is projected to see births drop 10 percent in 2021, accelerating a decline. Last year there were 860,000 births in Japan, the first time the level dipped below 900,000 since tracking began. Babies in the U.S. could decline by 300,000 to 500,000 next year, a 10 percent drop in the 3.7 million average annual births. According to the International Labor Organization, 17.1 percent of people aged 18 to 29 around the world have not worked since the pandemic began, and those who did saw their hours shrink an average of 23 percent.

Mean streets (Bloomberg) Mean streets are getting meaner, and more than 700 cities have said they may cut infrastructure spending due to budget shortfalls. Potholes caused $15 billion in damages to cars over five years, and some states are in a particularly rough stretch of road: in Rhode Island, 48 percent of urban streets are in poor condition according to the Federal Highway Administration, followed by California (46 percent), New Jersey (42 percent), and South Dakota and Hawaii (36 percent each). In some metropolitan areas in particular, most roads are bad: San Francisco-Oakland (71 percent of streets are poor), San Jose (63 percent) and Los Angeles (63 percent).

Big California wildfires burn on as death toll reaches 7 (AP) Firefighters battling three massive wildfires in Northern California got a break from the weather early Monday as humidity rose and there was no return of the onslaught of lightning strikes that ignited the infernos a week earlier. The region surrounding San Francisco Bay remained under extreme fire danger until late afternoon amid the possibility of lightning and gusty winds, but fire commanders said the weather had aided their efforts so far. The three big fires around the Bay Area and many others burning across the state have put nearly 250,000 people under evacuation orders and warnings and authorities renewed warnings for anxious homeowners to stay away from the evacuation zones.

National Guard called out after police shoot Black man (AP) Wisconsin’s governor summoned the National Guard for fear of another round of violent protests Monday after the police shooting of a Black man under murky circumstances turned Kenosha into the nation’s latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest. The move came after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear Sunday night over the wounding of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, who was hospitalized in serious condition. In a widely seen cellphone video made by an onlooker, he was shot [by police seven times] in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle. The shooting happened around 5 p.m. Sunday and was captured from across the street on video that was posted online. In the footage, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns pointed and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire while Blake has his back turned.

Marco collapses, sets stage for Laura to hit US as hurricane (AP) Tropical Storm Marco began falling apart Monday, easing one threat to the Gulf Coast but setting the stage for the arrival of Laura as a potentially supercharged Category 3 hurricane with winds topping 110 mph (177 kph). While Marco weakened, Laura’s potential got stronger, and forecasters raised the possibility of a major hurricane that would pummel western Louisiana and eastern Texas from late Wednesday into Thursday. The two-storm combination could bring a history-making onslaught of wind and coastal flooding from Texas to Alabama, forecasters said. State emergencies were declared in Louisiana and Mississippi, and shelters were being opened with cots set farther apart, among other measures designed to curb infections.

In Mexico's televised 'return to classes,' parents turn to state schools (Reuters) Millions of students return to classes virtually in Mexico on Monday after a hiatus lasting months caused by the coronavirus pandemic that has sparked an exodus from private schools. Mexico has yet to publish official data, but private-school bodies consulted by Reuters said almost 2 million students at all levels were expected to quit private schools because of the crisis to join an already overcrowded public system. The lack of both in-person teaching and access to facilities has left many parents unwilling to shoulder private-school costs. Supporters of private schools worry the turmoil could stretch the education system, especially after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador last year canceled a reform that the previous government said would improve teaching standards in Mexico, one of the worst-performing countries in the 37-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). As state schools reopen, students will start the new academic year with a home-learning program broadcast by major television networks until infection rates are deemed sufficiently low.

Mexico’s coronavirus toll (Financial Times) Mexico has surpassed its “catastrophic” worst-case scenario of 60,000 Covid-19 deaths and is shaping up as one of the worst health and economic casualties of the global pandemic. Latin America’s second-biggest economy, which has the world’s third highest overall coronavirus death toll, hit the grim milestone on Saturday, when the health ministry reported 60,254 and 556,216 confirmed cases. But officials have long acknowledged that the government’s data is an underrepresentation and the health ministry and private studies say the real death tally could be some three times higher.

Sweden’s success in fighting the coronavirus (London Times) Sweden is beating many European countries in the fight against new coronavirus infections, possibly because of its decision not to implement tough lockdown measures. As cases surge across Europe, leading to new restrictions such as the mandatory wearing of masks in many public areas, the infection rate in Sweden is falling. “Sweden is doing fine,” Arne Elofsson, a professor in biometrics at Stockholm University, said. “Strict rules do not work as people seem to break them.” Figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control show that the infection rate in France is more than 60 per cent higher than that of Sweden. France implemented a strict lockdown in the spring and requires masks to be worn in many public areas but has a fortnightly infection rate of 60 cases per 100,000 people. Sweden, which decided not to implement compulsory measures at that time and which rejected the use of masks, has a rate of 37 cases per 100,000 people. The government is recording between 200 and 300 new cases a day, with deaths down to three last Friday.

German doctors say tests indicate Kremlin critic Navalny was poisoned (Reuters) German doctors said on Monday that medical examinations indicated that Russia opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who is in a Berlin hospital after collapsing on a plane in Russia last week, had been poisoned. The specific substance was not yet known, German doctors said. The outcome remains uncertain but long-term effects, especially to the nervous system, could not be ruled out, it said.

European job cuts coming (The New York Times, McKinsey) A tsunami of job cuts is about to hit Europe as companies prepare to carry out sweeping downsizing plans to offset a collapse in business from the new coronavirus outbreak. Government-backed furlough schemes that have helped keep around a third of Europe’s work force financially secure are set to unwind in the coming months. As many as 59 million jobs are at risk of cuts in hours or pay, temporary furloughs, or permanent layoffs, especially in industries like transportation and retail, according to a study by McKinsey & Company.

At least 100 feared trapped in building collapse south of Mumbai (Reuters) At least 100 people are feared trapped in the debris of a five-storey building that collapsed on Monday in an industrial town in western India, a lawmaker said. Not all the roughly 200 residents of the building in Mahad, about 165 km (100 miles) south of India’s financial capital Mumbai, were at home when it crumbled in the evening, Bharatshet Maruti Gogawale, the local lawmaker, told Reuters. Authorities have yet to ascertain the cause of the collapse and the number of casualties, but about 30 people were pulled out by rescue teams and local residents. Old creaky structures and illegal constructions in India often lead to collapses, typically during torrential rain.

In China, Where the Pandemic Began, Life Is Starting to Look … Normal (NYT) In Shanghai, restaurants and bars in many neighborhoods are teeming with crowds. In Beijing, thousands of students are heading back to campus for the fall semester. In Wuhan, where the coronavirus emerged eight months ago, water parks and night markets are packed elbow to elbow, buzzing like before. While the United States and much of the world are still struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, life in many parts of China has in recent weeks become strikingly normal. Cities have relaxed social-distancing rules and mask mandates, and crowds are again filling tourist sites, movie theaters and gyms. The return to normalcy has made China an outlier in the global economy. The United States is facing a potentially long and painful recession, as some places have reimposed restrictions to contend with a surge in cases this summer. Several countries in Europe have been experiencing fresh outbreaks, putting additional pressure on an already weak economy. By contrast, China has been slowly recovering in recent months and its factories are humming again, although its growth is still weaker than before the pandemic and job losses are significant.

COVID-19 scary? Japan group offers coffins, chainsaws for stress relief (Reuters) Finding the pandemic scary? A Japanese group is trying to take people’s minds off COVID-19—by putting them in coffins surrounded by chainsaw-wielding zombies. Customers this weekend in Tokyo can lie in a 2-metre (6 1/2-foot) windowed box, listening to a horror story, watching actors perform and getting poked with fake hands and squirted with water. “The pandemic is stressful, and we hope people can get a bit of relief by having a good scream,” said Kenta Iwana, coordinator of production company Kowagarasetai—“Scare Squad”—which is putting on the 15-minute shows.

With Delay in Afghan Peace Talks, a Creeping Sense of ‘Siege’ Around Kabul (NYT) Mornings in the city begin with “sticky bombs,” explosives slapped onto vehicles that go up in flames. With night comes the dread of hit-and-run assassinations in the nearby suburbs—government employees shot dead by motorcycle-riding insurgents who roam free. As peace talks to end Afghanistan’s long war face delays, the Taliban may be sparing Kabul, the capital, from mass-casualty attacks as part of an understanding with the United States. But the insurgents have instead shifted to a tactic that is eroding the Afghan government’s standing with each passing day: frequent targeted assaults that the country’s security forces seem unable to control. The city has taken on an air of slow-creeping siege. At least 17 small explosions and assassinations have been carried out in Kabul in the past week, according to a tally by The New York Times. Three magnetic bombs went off within one hour on Saturday morning, and at least two more targeted attacks followed before the end of the day.

More U.S. troops pull out of Iraq (Foreign Policy) U.S.-led coalition troops withdrew from Iraq’s Taji base located north of Baghdad on Sunday and transferred control of the facility to the Iraqi security forces, part of a larger drawdown of U.S. troops in the country. The base has held up to 2,000 troops in the past, but most of those stationed there have departed this summer. The final troops are due to leave in the coming days. Sunday’s withdrawal comes as the Trump administration has been working with the Iraqi government to coordinate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. On Friday, after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Trump reiterated his desire to pull out of Iraq. “Frankly, I didn’t think (the Iraq War) was a good idea,” he said. “Now we’re getting out, we’ll be leaving shortly.” The handover of Camp Taji is the eighth such transfer of an Iraqi base to Iraqi security forces.

Beirut faces mental health crisis after blast (Reuters) More than two weeks after a massive explosion tore through Beirut killing 181 people and leaving entire neighbourhoods in ruins, Sandra Abinader still jumps at the slightest sound. “The other day, I was trying to open a jar and the popping sound made me jump back and scream. I felt for a second I needed to run away.” The blast caught Lebanon at an extremely vulnerable point following months of severe economic crisis compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. Now practitioners are warning of a national mental health emergency as people begin to show signs of trauma from the explosion, including nightmares, flashbacks, crying, anxiety, anger and exhaustion. Psychologists say this is being exacerbated by the constant stream of images on Lebanese TV and social media showing the blast and its bloody aftermath. “Every time we say it can’t get worse in Lebanon, it somehow does,” said Jad Daou, a volunteer with Lebanese mental health NGO Embrace, who mans the phones at its crisis clinic. “A lot of people are feeling hopeless about the entire situation here in Lebanon.”

In a Fearful China, Its Dr. Fauci Wins Hearts With Restraint China has imposed some of the toughest lockdowns in the world to stop Covid-19. One city sealed apartment doors, leaving residents with dwindling food and medicine. One village tied a local to a tree after he left home to buy cigarettes. Beijing forced people to leave their pets behind when they went into quarantine. Few officials spoke up against the excesses, given the central government’s obsession with its anti-coronavirus campaign. That hasn’t stopped Dr. Zhang Wenhong. Dr. Zhang, an infectious-disease specialist and perhaps China’s most trusted voice on Covid-19, has spoken out publicly against excessive lockdowns, though he hasn’t criticized individual cities. Fighting the pandemic, he likes to say, is like “catching mice in a china shop.” “We hope that our pandemic prevention measures won’t affect public life too much,” Dr. Zhang wrote on Jan. 24, after a second wave of infections prompted tough clampdowns. “If we pursue the goal of zero infection,” he said in a video a few days later, “life would be too hard.” Dr. Zhang may be China’s closest analogue to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the American infectious-disease specialist who became the public face of stopping the coronavirus amid the chaos of the Trump administration. A consummate technocrat, Dr. Zhang comes across as neither political nor ideological. Yet, by offering his expert opinions straight, he pushes back against the authoritarian instinct in a system that often overreacts with draconian measures. A top academic at Fudan University in Shanghai and a member of the Communist Party, Dr. Zhang led Shanghai’s expert panel on Covid-19, giving him considerable authority over the city’s response. Unlike Dr. Fauci, who urged the Trump administration to do more, Dr. Zhang championed a more strategic approach for a country that didn’t take coronavirus half-measures. In doing so, he spoke to the Chinese public with respect, a refreshing change from the way others in authority often carry themselves. Dr. Zhang is especially popular among professionals and technocrats who admire him for his sincerity in a society plagued by propaganda, conspiracy theories and crude nationalism. “At this moment, rumors are more terrifying than the virus,” he said at the beginning of the outbreak. “We need to explain the epidemic to the public with rational data and professional knowledge.” “Zhang Wenhong leads a magical existence in China,” wrote Zhu Xuedong, the former editor in chief of the liberal-leaning magazine Nanfengchuang, on WeChat’s social media timeline. “He uses rational, scientific and civilized words to gently resist all the arrogance, greed and brazenness in this premodern society,” Mr. Zhu wrote. “He gives us warmth, consolation and hope.” Dr. Zhang did not respond to requests for comment. In today’s China, getting ahead often means speaking in the language of the Communist Party. Those who refuse to ride the ideological tide keep their independence by keeping quiet. By contrast, Dr. Zhang has earned an ability to speak freely. Shanghai, a city of 24 million people, has had only 371 local infections and seven deaths. It managed those numbers with fewer restrictions than the city of Beijing, with 21 million residents, 828 local infections and nine deaths. His forecasts — delivered in his characteristic rapid-fire Mandarin, tinged with a soft Shanghai accent — have been on the mark. He predicted early on that the pandemic could last at least one to two years. A year ago this month, when China was still virtually shut down, he said China had left its darkest hours behind. Journalists began to seek him out. Some of his responses became internet memes. A few examples: “Influenza is not a cold, just like a tiger is not a cat.” “You’re bored to death at home, so the virus will be bored to death, too.” Updated  March 12, 2021, 5:29 a.m. ET “Stay away from fire, thieves and your colleagues.” His Weibo social media account, which he started in the middle of last year, has 3.6 million followers. Many of his videos have been viewed tens of millions of times. An article he co-wrote on the pandemic’s global prospects last March, when Europe and the United States were exploding with infections, was viewed more than 860 million times on his department’s official WeChat account alone. Maintaining a high profile in China often requires discretion. Late last year, Jack Ma, the technology billionaire, publicly criticized regulators. The authorities quickly swooped down on his business empire. Dr. Zhang doesn’t challenge the government, but neither does he always toe the official line. Late last year, some Chinese officials pointed to findings that the virus had been found on the packaging of imported food, suggesting that the coronavirus may have been brought to China from overseas. Dr. Zhang has told his audience not to worry about it: “The chance of catching the virus from imported goods,” he said, “is lower than dying in a plane crash.” “I’m not going to hide the information because I’m worried that I could say something wrong and cause some controversies,” he said over the summer. “We always share what we know.” Dr. Zhang, 51, was born in Rui’an, a small town by Chinese standards 300 miles south of Shanghai. He attended Shanghai Medical University, now part of Fudan University, and trained at hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School and Hong Kong University. He heads the infectious disease department at Huashan Hospital of Fudan, sees patients two half-days a week and teaches classes as a professor. His self-deprecating humor stands in contrast to China’s stern, self-important officials. He calls himself a “country bumpkin.” His gym membership often goes unused. When he is tired, he says, he likes to watch stupid television shows. His nicknames bestowed by his online fans include “the most courageous doctor” and “Daddy Zhang.” Roughly translated, some middle-age women call him their “Mr. Perfect.” Dr. Zhang’s comments have sometimes drawn criticism from Chinese nationalists who increasingly drive public opinion in the country. They called him a traitor who worships the Western lifestyle when he told parents to feed their children eggs and milk in the morning instead of congee, the traditional Chinese breakfast. He responded that protein helps build the immune system. Still, he has kept a high profile without drawing major ire from the government or sustained criticism from the nationalists. Some of that stems from China’s pride in quickly containing the coronavirus. Dr. Zhang, who played a role in that, has won a number of awards from official groups. In watching his speeches, I found another key to his sustained appeal. In his impromptu speech at a national teaching award ceremony in September, he said the essence of education is acknowledging human dignity. Mr. Zhang appeals to the humanity of his audience and, by admitting his own foibles, shows the authorities and the public that he is merely human, too. In one speech, he mentioned that some victims of avian flu had caught it from taking care of their infected loved ones, and that female patients were more likely to infect their doting mothers than their absent husbands. “At that moment,” he told the audience, “I lost faith in romantic love.” When he rolled up his sleeve to get a second vaccine injection, he told journalists that he hadn’t expected cameras to be there. “Otherwise,” he said, “I would have worked on my deltoid.” In an interview last June, a reporter asked him whether anybody had reminded him to be mindful of his status as an expert and the head of an expert government panel. “People are smart,” he responded. “They know whether you’re telling them truth or lies.” When he gets public accolades, he often uses the occasion to highlight his causes, like more funding for infectious-disease research and for increasing the public awareness of tuberculosis and hepatitis B, two of the most common infectious diseases in China. He also talks about people who deserved more attention, like the women among the pandemic responders whose role has often taken a back seat to the men’s in the media. “Men are on camera more,” he said at a forum on the subject, “but women did more work.” Then he turned to the female medical workers, and bowed. Source link Orbem News #China #Fauci #Fearful #hearts #Restraint #wins