1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,759 Speaker 1: Hi. I'm Carol Masser and I'm Jason Kelly. This week's 2 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: cover story. It's all about life in Wuhan post virus. Carol, 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,319 Speaker 1: It's an amazing read. It is an amazing read, Jason. 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: It's been described as a letter from the future to 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: describe life, as you said, after the coronavirus, and for 6 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: that we do look to Wuhan. It's the city in 7 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: China where it all began. It's now also taking its 8 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: first steps towards normalcy. And what's interesting, Jason, they are 9 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,319 Speaker 1: hesitant steps right as a city reopens. Some might say 10 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: those steps are taking on a dystopian field with temperature checks, masks, 11 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: social distancing, and eating divided and alone in company cafeterias. 12 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: It's a story it's by Sharon Chen and Matthew Campbell 13 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: that raises a lot of questions, some scary questions for 14 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: those of us outside of Wuhan, thinking about what our 15 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: lives maybe like as things returned to some semblance of normal. 16 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: Check it out. Wuhan reopens, the city where it all 17 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: began takes its first hesitant steps toward normalcy. By Sharon 18 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: Chen and Matthew Campbell with Claire Shay and Sarah Chen. 19 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: Every work day at Lenovo's tablet and phone factory on 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 1: the outskirts of Wuhan, Arriving employees report to a supervisor 21 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: for the first of at least four temperature checks. The 22 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: results are fed into a data collection system designed by staff. 23 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,759 Speaker 1: Anyone above thirty seven point three degrees celsius is automatically flagged, 24 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: triggering an investigation by an in house anti virus task force. 25 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: Daily routines at the facility, which reopened on March after 26 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: stopping for over two months because of the coronavirus pandemic 27 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: that began in this central Chinese city, have been entirely 28 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: re engineered to minimize the risk of infection. Before returning 29 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: to the site, staff members had to be tested both 30 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: for the virus and for antibodies that indicate past illness, 31 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: and they had to wait for their results in isolation 32 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: at a dedicated dormitory. Once cleared, they returned to work 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: to find the capacity of meeting rooms built for six 34 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: reduces to three, and the formerly communal cafeteria tables partitioned 35 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: off by vertical barriers covered in reminders to avoid conversation. 36 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:13,079 Speaker 1: Signs everywhere indicate when areas were last disinfected, and robots 37 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: are deployed wherever possible to transport supplies so as to 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: reduce the number of people moving from place to place. Elevators, too, 39 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 1: are an artifact of the before times. Everyone now has 40 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: to take the stairs, keeping their distance from others all 41 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,239 Speaker 1: the way. Presiding over all these measures, one Sunday in 42 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: mid April was Chi Yeah, head of Wuhan operations for 43 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: Beijing based Lenovo Group. Chi, who's forty eight with closely 44 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: cropped hair and a sturdy frame, had been visiting his 45 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: hometown of Tianjin in China's north when the government sealed 46 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: off Wuhan from the rest of the country on January. 47 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: It had taken him until February ninth to get home, 48 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: and he was only able to make it by buying 49 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: a train ticket to chang Shah further down the line 50 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: and begging the crew to let him get off in Wuhan. 51 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: His up was now to bring the factory slowly back 52 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: to life, while emphasizing vigilance compared with keeping the virus 53 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: out of the plant, He said, how much production we 54 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: can deliver comes second. G is one of millions of 55 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: people in Wuhan trying to figure out what economic and 56 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: social life looks like after the worst pandemic in a century. 57 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,399 Speaker 1: In some respects, they're in a decent position. The outbreak 58 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: in Hubei Province peaked in mid February, and according to 59 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: official statistics, there are now almost no new infections occurring, 60 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: though other governments have cast out on China's figures, but 61 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: scientists warned that the novel coronavirus is stealthy and robust, 62 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: and a resurgence is still possible until there's a reliable vaccine. 63 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: How to balance that risk against the need to reignite 64 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: an industrial hub of more than ten million people is 65 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: a formidable dilemma one governments around the world will soon 66 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: be facing. So far, Wuhan's answer has been to create 67 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: a version of normal that would appear utterly alien to 68 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: people in London, Milan, or New York, at least for 69 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: the moment. While daily routines have largely resumed, there remains 70 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: significant restrictions on a huge range of activities, from funerals 71 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: to hosting visitors at home, Bolstered by China's powerful surveillance state. 72 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: Even the simplest interactions are mediated by a vast infrastructure 73 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: of public and private monitoring intended to ensure that no 74 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: infection goes undetected for more than a few hours. But 75 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: inasmuch as citizens can return to living as they did 76 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: before January, it's not clear after what they've endured that 77 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: they really want to Shopping malls and department stores are 78 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: open again, but largely empty. The same is true of restaurants. 79 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: People are ordering in instead. The subway is quiet, but 80 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: autos are selling. If being stuck in traffic is annoying, 81 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: at least it's socially distanced. Chief figures he's probably on 82 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: the right side of this economic rebalancing. Tablets are in 83 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: high demand as schools around the world switched to remote learning, 84 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: and companies contemplating a work from home future aren't likely 85 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,799 Speaker 1: to skimp on technology budgets. Since restarting operations, he's hired 86 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: more than one thousand workers, bringing the on site total 87 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: above ten thousand, and production lines are running at full capacity. 88 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: He said he was painfully aware, however, of how quickly 89 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 1: work would stop if even one employee contracted the virus. 90 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: In my meetings with my staff, I always tell them 91 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: no loosening up, no loosening up. We can't allow any accidents. 92 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: More than eight percent of China's almost eighty four thousand 93 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: confirmed cases of COVID nineteen and more than of the 94 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: roughly confirmed deaths have been in Hubei, of which Wuhan 95 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: is the capital and largest city. Controlling the outbreak there 96 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: after a series of mistakes by President Shi Jimping's government, 97 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: which initially downplayed the risk of human to human transmission 98 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: and failed to prevent widespread infection of medical personnel, required 99 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: a herculean effort. More than forty thousand doctors and other 100 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: medical staff were dispatched from other regions to reinforce existing 101 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: facilities and operate field hospitals built in the space of 102 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: ten days, and car and electronics companies were pressed into 103 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: making protective gear. People suspected of having the disease were 104 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: required to move into dormitories and hotels repurposed as isolation facilities, 105 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: and allowed to go home only after they'd been declared 106 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: infection free. Who Bay was the last region of China 107 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: to resume daily life, with curbs on movement lifted progressively 108 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: from late March until April eight, more than three months 109 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: after the epidemic began. The government presented the Moment as 110 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,479 Speaker 1: a decisive victory, part of a comprehensive effort to rewrite 111 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: the narrative of the virus as a Communist party triumph 112 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: in contrast to its catastrophic spread in Western democracies. Late 113 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: on the night of April seven, crowds began arriving at 114 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: wu Chang station, one of three large railway hubs in Wuhan. 115 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: The first outbound train in weeks to guang Jo was 116 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: scheduled to leave at twelve fifty a m, followed by 117 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: a dense schedule of departures to many of China's major cities. 118 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: Wuhan's position at the junction of several major rail and 119 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: road routes, along with its industrial heft, has invited frequent 120 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: comparisons to Chicago. Police in black uniforms and medical masks 121 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: seemed to be everywhere. Scan your code, they shouted at 122 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: travelers approaching the departure gates. The public private health code 123 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: system that China developed to manage COVID nineteen, hosted on 124 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: the Alley pay and we chat apps but deeply linked 125 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: with the government, assigns one of three viral risk statuses, red, yellow, 126 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: or green to every citizen. It's a powerful tool with 127 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: clear potential for abuse. A green QR code, which denotes 128 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: a low risk of having the virus, is the general default, 129 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: while coming into contact with an infected person can trigger 130 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: a yellow code, and a mandatory quarantine red is for 131 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: a likely or confirmed case. Travel between cities requires a 132 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: green code, and while Tung Shao twenty two had hers 133 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: and felt fine, she was nervous about making her train. 134 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: There's still a chance I'll be stopped if my temperature 135 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: is too high, she said as she neared the departure 136 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: z own. Before going to the station, Sung had checked 137 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: repeatedly for a fever, worried that being even a little 138 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: bit warm would prevent her from getting to guang Jo, 139 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: where she works as a teacher. I haven't seen my 140 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: cat in almost three months, she said. She didn't have 141 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: to worry. Her temperature scan was normal, and she was 142 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: soon able to board her train south. Another passenger leaving 143 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: on the first day, Chin Chin on twenty six, had 144 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: been stranded since the lockdown began. He'd been on vacation 145 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: in Wuhan when Hubei was cut off, and no amount 146 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: of pleading with officials could get him on a train out. 147 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: By mid February. He was living off online loans. I 148 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: was eating instant noodles for every meal, he said. He 149 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: ended up getting a bed in an austere dormitory constructed 150 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: by the local government for people who couldn't leave. He 151 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: also found work doing odd jobs at leshan Shan Hospital, 152 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: one of the temporary infirmaries built to handle coronavirus patients. 153 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: He'd lost his regular job at a company in Jangsu 154 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: Province that makes robots because he couldn't get back, and 155 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: was now headed to Guangdong to look for another one 156 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: and see his family. He hadn't told his parents where 157 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: he'd been all this time. As far as they knew 158 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: he was away working, I will not tell them I 159 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: was in Wuhan, Chin said. When dawn broke, Wuhan came 160 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: cautiously back to life. Hairdressers were some of the first 161 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: businesses to fill up. The roads were noticeably busier, and 162 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: workers flowed back into office towers in the city center. 163 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: But these new freedoms felt distinctly provisional. At the entrance 164 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: to every mall or public building, guards stood sentry with 165 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: temperature scanners, ready to turn away anyone whose reading was 166 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: too high. Green codes required even to ride the subway 167 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: have become the city's most precious possession, and one that's 168 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,200 Speaker 1: easy to lose is Merely visiting a building around the 169 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: same time as a person later found to be infected 170 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: can turn them yellow. And apartment compounds still reserve the 171 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: right to bar residents from leaving if cases are reported there, 172 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: as they did during the lockdown. Even in the first 173 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: city to confront the virus, following a containment effort as 174 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: intense as any in the history of public health, the 175 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: danger remains acute. Asymptomatic cases and imported cases are still risks. 176 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: Wang Xinghuan, the president of one of the city's major 177 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: hospitals and of the LEA shan Shan Facility, told reporters 178 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: at a press conference before the latter's closing, and many 179 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: residents are still susceptible. Wang's hospital gave antibody tests to 180 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 1: all thirty six hundred of its staff, and fewer than 181 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: three percent came back positive, a result that shows there's 182 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: no herd immunity in Wuhan. There's only one way to 183 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: durably protect the population, he said, a vaccine. Wuhan's businesses 184 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: are nevertheless hoping for a safe but speedy return to 185 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: conspicu was consumption. In the days before the city fully 186 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: reopened for business, the sales team at a local Audi 187 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: dealership gathered for their daily meeting. The twenty or so 188 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: salespeople were all dressed in dark suits and face masks, 189 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: standing well over a meter apart in neat columns as 190 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 1: a manager briefed them on the day's plans. A colleague 191 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: made his way through the group, spraying everyone with disinfectant 192 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: as they spun around to ensure full coverage. Customers may 193 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: not be kind enough to tell you if they don't 194 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: feel well, so try not to bring them into the store, 195 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: the manager said, just talk to them at the entrance 196 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: if possible. After reopening on March twenty three, the dealership 197 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:41,720 Speaker 1: had been selling about seven cars per day, on pace 198 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: with last year, despite all the restrictions. Most were relatively 199 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: low end vehicles, such as the A three, which retails 200 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: for about two thousand u n Twenty eight thousand dollars, 201 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 1: the kind of car often bought by families to complement 202 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: a bigger, fancier model. People are not willing to take 203 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: public transport and on, said the marketing director, who asked 204 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: to be identified by only his surname Pan, and they 205 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: don't dare commute by de D, the ubiquitous ride hailing app. 206 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,599 Speaker 1: The focus now, Pan said, was on following up with 207 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: people who had expressed interest in an Audi in the 208 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: past but hadn't bought one. They might be ready to bite. 209 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,719 Speaker 1: The dealership was looking to expand its current staff of 210 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: about one fifty and employees would soon receive the pay 211 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: they'd missed during the lockdown. Another salesperson added, it's like 212 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: a boom for many other businesses in Wuhan, though it's 213 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 1: anything but. Benny Shao is director of international operations at 214 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: Wuhan Boyan Paper and Plastic, which produces the kind of 215 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: unremarkable but essential goods that still form the backbone of 216 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: Chinese industry. In his case, their disposable cups, which Buoyan 217 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: sells to US airlines and Japanese retailers, among other clients. 218 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: Shall works from an office inside a dilapidated residential compound, 219 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 1: and wearing a battered gray blazer over a green button down, 220 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: he didn't quite look the part of an international dealmaker, 221 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: but he beamed with pride as he showed off a 222 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: glass cabinet in his office stuffed with examples of his craft, 223 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: from thin plastic vessels for economy class soda to a 224 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: sturdy tumbler he'd tried unsuccessfully to sell the Starbucks. The 225 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,959 Speaker 1: first months of the pandemic were challenging for Shaw, as 226 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: they were for everyone in Wuhan. His wife, now retired, 227 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: spent her career as a doctor at Chehe Hospital, one 228 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: of the first to report cases of what was later 229 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: identified as the coronavirus, and she'd begun hearing from colleagues 230 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: in mid January about the impending crisis. Sick residents were 231 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: lining up outside Scheh at ten pm in the freezing cold, 232 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: many of them older people who could barely make it. 233 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: Shall recalled patients were really desperately looking for help. He 234 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: and his wife had stocked up on food before the 235 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: lockdown began, but three weeks in they started to run out. 236 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: Unlike in Europe and the U S, Wuhan's contained measures 237 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: made it difficult for people to leave their buildings even 238 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: to buy groceries, forcing them to rely on delivery apps, 239 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: government drop offs, and neighbors who wrangled permission to go out. 240 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:09,959 Speaker 1: At one point, Chao had to spend twenty six u 241 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: n almost four dollars for a single cabbage, more than 242 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: triple the usual price. Some of the vegetables provided by 243 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: local officials were barely edible. He returned in late March 244 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: to a company in severe trouble. Orders in the first 245 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,479 Speaker 1: half of the year were headed for a fifty percent drop, 246 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: with demand from food deliveries failing to offset the calamitous 247 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: decline in air travel. The government had made some financial 248 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: help available, but chall wasn't sure he'd be able to 249 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: avoid layoffs back in January and February. I was expecting 250 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: things to come back to normal in April, he said. Instead, 251 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: I was just calling the bank this morning to tell 252 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: them that I can't repay the interest on our loan. 253 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: For a country that's experienced an essentially uninterrupted boom throughout 254 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: the living memory of anyone younger than fifty, broad based 255 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: economic pain is deeply unfamiliar. The Chinese economy shrank six 256 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: point eight percent in the first quarter of the year, 257 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: and the International Monetary Fund estimates it will grow just 258 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: one point two percent in twenty twenty, the slowest pace 259 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 1: of expansion since nineteen seventy six. Urban unemployment a widely 260 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: scrutinized indicator of overall joblessness rose to a record six 261 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: point two percent in February, before pulling back slightly in March. 262 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: And it's not clear what China's business model will look 263 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: like in a world where Europe, the U S, and 264 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: other key markets for its goods are flirting with a depression. 265 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: Chao is sixty four, part of a Chinese generation that 266 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: had seen more than its share of history even before 267 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: the coronavirus emerged. But he struggled to recall anything in 268 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: his experience that was more dramatic, save perhaps the famine 269 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: of the Great Leap Forward when he was a young child. 270 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: This is the biggest crisis of my lifetime, he said. 271 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: The entrance to Wuhan's Byan dan Shan Cemetery is marked 272 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: by an impressive stone gate with the pagoda style roof 273 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: and a frieze of a ferocious looking dragon, but in 274 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: recent weeks it's been partly hidden behind a series of 275 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: bright yellow crowd control barriers, surrounded by temporary metal fencing 276 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: and watched carefully by police. Almost no one is permitted 277 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: to enter until April, and even then access is likely 278 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: to be strictly controlled. Officially, no patients in Wuhan are 279 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: still dying from COVID nineteen, but the treatment of those 280 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: who did pass away remains an extremely sensitive subject. On 281 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: Tomb Sweeping Day in early April, when Chinese families traditionally 282 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: gather to pay respects to their ancestors, Wuhan's cemeteries were 283 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: kept closed. Funerals have been banned until at least the 284 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: end of the month, and family members of the dead 285 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: have reported pressure from government officials to mourn quickly and quietly. 286 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: According to the government, these measures are purely a matter 287 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,360 Speaker 1: of public health because family gatherings are a potential vector 288 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: for infection, but the restrictions also help Beijing avoid having 289 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: funerals come a venue for people to vent anger about 290 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: how the epidemic was handled, or to ask uncomfortable questions 291 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: about subjects such as China's true death toll. Whatever the 292 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: reasons for maintaining the band, some mental health providers in 293 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: Wuhan have expressed fears that the inability to properly mourn 294 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: loved ones will have deep and enduring psychological consequences. The 295 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: city's residents were the first to undergo the unprecedented social 296 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: shutdown that's been repeated around the world, and it seems 297 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 1: certain to mark many of them for a long time, 298 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:35,160 Speaker 1: especially if it's compounded by a prolonged economic slump. Yeao 299 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,639 Speaker 1: John is among those struggling to move on the petit. 300 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: Fifty year old is the founder and general manager of 301 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: Wuhan Well Held Photoelectric, a manufacturer of welding helmets and 302 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 1: protective masks that exports to France, Germany and the US. 303 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: She came back to work on March thirteenth after waiting 304 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: through approvals from four layers of government, including her local 305 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: neighborhood committee, which took fifteen days to assess well hells 306 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: of city to prevent infections. We can't afford to have 307 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: a single one, Yow said in an interview at her factory. 308 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: Every day the production line can run is crucial. Well 309 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: Hell was trying to catch up on orders that hadn't 310 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: been able to complete in the first few months of 311 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: the year. Even as Yew wasn't sure her customers in 312 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: lockdown overseas markets would be able to take the deliveries, 313 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,919 Speaker 1: she had no idea when more business would come in 314 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: given what's happening to the global economy. Despite the uncertainties. 315 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:29,919 Speaker 1: She was trying to focus on work rather than what 316 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: the city had just gone through. I can't see news 317 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: about medical workers without crying, Yow said, choking back tears 318 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: and rubbing a jade key chain attached to her phone. 319 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 1: She was having trouble sleeping as she turned over the 320 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: stories of doctors and nurses who had succumbed to COVID 321 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: nineteen again and again in her head. I don't know 322 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: these people, but if someone tells me what happened to them, 323 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: it's devastating. These deaths aren't just numbers or strange names 324 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: to me, their vivid lives. She leave that many of 325 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,680 Speaker 1: her neighbors and colleagues were experiencing similar emotions but might 326 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,920 Speaker 1: not be willing or able to talk about them. Many 327 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: other people are traumatized but can't recognize the problem or 328 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 1: express their feelings. She said. The pandemic was causing Yao 329 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: to rethink her life. She spent almost half of last 330 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,359 Speaker 1: year on the road, often visiting clients overseas. Now, she 331 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: said she wanted to spend much more time at home, 332 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 1: keeping her family close. Her son was supposed to return 333 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: to Australia for university in February, but he was unable 334 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,879 Speaker 1: to get there. For obvious reasons. Yow didn't want him 335 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: to go back. Even after seemingly world shattering events, human 336 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: behavior has a way of reverting to the mean. In 337 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 1: the weeks after September eleven, commentators predicted the end of globalization, 338 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: of the skyscraper of irony, which all needless to say, persisted. 339 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: Within a couple of years of the global financial crisis, 340 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: banks and homebuyers were back to arranging risky mortgages, and 341 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: the very wealthy we're back to and then well beyond 342 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: pre two thousand eight levels of excess. It's reasonable to 343 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: think this time will be different. Hardly anyone alive today 344 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: has endured a pandemic this severe, and the basic problem 345 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: it's created that anyone, whether friend, family, or stranger, might 346 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 1: be a vector for lethal infection is uniquely corrosive to 347 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: the daily interactions that keep countries and economies going. An 348 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: effective vaccine could be at least a year off, and 349 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: given what the world has learned about how quickly a 350 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: novel pathogen can shut everything down, even that might not 351 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: return things to the way they were. Wuhan was the 352 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: first place to traverse both sides of the COVID nineteen 353 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: curve and how it changes or doesn't in the diseases 354 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: aftermath will say a lot to the rest of us. 355 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: Many of the city's methods won't be universally applicable. Few 356 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: other governments could assemble the all seeing anti viral surveillance 357 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,400 Speaker 1: China is trying to put in place, even if they 358 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: wanted to. Fewer still probably have populations that would tolerate it. 359 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: But whatever the tactics, the key lesson of Wuhan could 360 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: be that the price of beating the virus is never 361 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 1: ending vigilance and a reordering of priorities that will be 362 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: hard for many to accept. At a Starbucks in one 363 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: of Wuhan's fancier shopping districts, ma Ren Wren, a thirty 364 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: two year old entrepreneur who runs a small marketing agency, 365 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: talked about how he was sorting out these questions for himself. 366 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: The store was open, but only serving drinks to go, 367 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: with customers permitted to sit at outdoor tables. Security guards 368 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: were keeping a close eye on things, interrupting conversations to 369 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: tell patrons to keep their masks on in between SIPs 370 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 1: and not sit too close together. Ma who was wearing 371 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: fashionably oversized glasses, a black baseball cap, and of course, 372 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: a light blue medical mask, had gone to stay at 373 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: his parents apartment on Januar, intending to help take care 374 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: of them, but soon he began to suspe act that 375 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: he might be sick. It was a time of greatly 376 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: heightened emotion. No one knew the true fatality rate, and 377 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: people in Wuhan were seeing reports on social media of 378 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: appalling conditions in overwhelmed hospitals. I wrote my last words 379 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: one night and decided to say farewell to my parents 380 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,400 Speaker 1: and go to the hospital alone. The next morning, Ma recalled, 381 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 1: I knew that if I went, I couldn't necessarily expect 382 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 1: to come back. He changed his mind at the last 383 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: minute and eventually felt better, though the psychological effects lingered. 384 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: He began having panic attacks, his breath short and his 385 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: heart pounding. After looking up the symptoms online, he concluded 386 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: that he was experiencing post traumatic stress experiences like his 387 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: MA thought would make many people more introspective and more 388 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: focused on those closest to them. We will put aside 389 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,560 Speaker 1: more time for ourselves and our families, and for the 390 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: other relationships that seemed truly worth holding onto during the crisis, 391 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:03,359 Speaker 1: he said, misfortune tests the sincerity of friendship. Ma was 392 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: now trying to get his company back on its feet. 393 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,479 Speaker 1: The government had recently sent him a tax rebate as 394 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 1: part of its stimulus measures, but this would help only 395 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: so much. Tourism has collapsed and few potential clients have 396 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,200 Speaker 1: much money for promotion. There's nothing to do but move on, 397 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,679 Speaker 1: he said. Ma had inevitably lowered his ambitions, and for 398 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: the time being, he was all right with that. We 399 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:31,479 Speaker 1: worked NonStop for years, chasing every opportunity, he said. Now 400 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: everyone I know has one goal for it's to survive 401 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: with assistance from Gau Yen, huts Fen and Jin Chen Hong. 402 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: And that's this week's cover story by Sharon Chen and 403 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: Matthew Campbell, all about life in Wuhan, Carol And To 404 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: read more on this story and other stories in the 405 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: magazine this week, go to Bloomberg dot com and also 406 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: be sure to check out our daily Bloomberg Business Week 407 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: radio show and podcast wherever you download your podcasts.