“We have the right to rejoice”: thousands of Wuhan celebrate the New Year on the streets

Wuhan, China – A couple walked along a crowded pedestrian street and couldn’t believe it: Wuhan, the city where the first case of COVID-19 was known and the one that experienced the first major blockade that stopped the pandemic, he celebrated the mass arrival of the new year, almost as if nothing had happened.

Since the beginning of the afternoon, floods of people have crowded the city’s 11 million subways to reach Jianghan Pedestrian Street, the scene of a crowd that surprised residents.

“We haven’t seen so many people together for years, it’s very interesting to see Wuhan like that,” said young Yao, who was walking with his girlfriend on that shopping street, where there were queues to enter shops and restaurants.

Most were young without fear of contagion – Wuhan added his latest case of COVID-19 by local transmission in mid-May – and “wanting to make up for lost time,” added the smiling girl, Wu, dressed in rabbit ears. fake.

The countdown of the crowd

There are those who, like Leng, a university student, wanted to clarify that the already recovered Wuhan did not want to rub the images of the massive celebrations on the faces of those still suffering from the pandemic: “Just because we can go out today to celebrate doesn’t mean we don’t sympathize with the rest.”

Leng was one of thousands of citizens who gathered in downtown Jianghan Square to meet in front of the Hankou building clock and take part in the countdown to the end of 2020.

“We have the right to rejoice,” added the young man, who, despite the normality of the day, is still aware of the ravages caused by COVID-19 or the strict closure of the city, which began in late January and lasted 11 weeks. “If you tell me at the end of February that we will be like that today, I wouldn’t believe it,” he said.

Five, four, three, two, one … thousands of people gathered in the square were counting eagerly and loudly every second before midnight.

Then, the participants congratulated each other and launched thousands of balloons with different shapes and colors – most of them, hearts – in unison, to welcome 2021 and leave behind the fateful 2020.

Tickets sold out at nightclubs

After the “noises”, Wuhan people hugged and took the necessary selfies to share on social media. For some, it was the end of the night, but for others it had just begun: In some clubs the tickets were already sold out.

At the lavish club, Han kept coming and going non-stop to his huge rooms, where hundreds of people danced – some with masks, some without – to the beat of electronic music until late at night.

In other bars, the gurus of those who shouted in karaoke were suffered, but “at least it offers shelter to anyone who refuses to go home now”, said laughing another young man, who thinks that this year’s holidays are necessary.

“I know that this year they were banned in many places. All our solidarity. But many sacrifices have been made here. The country has practically closed its borders. There is no choice but to accept that your movements are being followed. You should avoid contagion. And here was the prison … you couldn’t leave town, “he said.

He added that his impression was that “in other countries the preventive measures against COVID-19 have not been applied as strictly as in China”.

It is far from January last year, when Wuhan registered dozens of daily cases of “mysterious pneumonia” that would lead to 3,869 deaths in the city, according to official statistics.

In order to prevent COVID-19 from continuing to devastate, the authorities imposed an unprecedented and strict closure on January 23, which lasted 11 weeks.

According to its inhabitants, it was the only possible measure to prevent COIVID-19 from continuing to wreak havoc, but do not forget the confusion from the early days, when there was hardly any information available about the disease, food supply or sanitation.

The management of the outbreak at an early stage was controversial, and Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang himself acknowledged that his government had taken too long to disclose available information about the outbreak because it said it needed the approval of higher courts to make it public.

In addition to its strict quarantine, Wuhan has managed to reverse the situation due to strong preventive measures, the arrival of medical staff from other Chinese provinces or the express construction of hospitals such as Leishenshan, which began receiving patients in February 2020.