Fang Fang - Wuhan Diary - Dispatches from a Quarantined City

But all we have gotten is endless waiting—waiting for the city to reopen, waiting for an explanation.

February 28, 2020

That period we refer to as Early Spring always seems to last for several days.

The weather is still overcast and it is starting to get colder. Dusk is coming earlier than before; if you don’t turn on your lights by 4:00 p.m. it will already be quite dark inside. The period we refer to as Early Spring always seems to last for several days.

I noticed that someone had forwarded a video on Weibo of former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji [36] Zhu Rongji (b. 1928) is a veteran Chinese politician who previously served as premier of the People’s Republic of China from 1998 to 2003. Previous to his term as premier he had served as first vice premier. During his time in office, Zhu oversaw expansive economic growth. He retired in 2004. doing a self-introduction in Shanghai. There was one sentence he said in his speech that I really liked: “The core of my philosophy boils down to independent thinking.” That is also my belief. I participated in a literary conference right after graduating from college and heard the veteran writer Jiang Hong say it this way: “We have to make sure that our heads are firmly supported by our own shoulders!” That quote left a deep impression on me. I thought, that’s right, our heads, our thoughts, shouldn’t be resting on the shoulders of our teachers, or the newspapers we read, and especially not on the documents passed out at government meetings; they need to be sitting firmly on our own shoulders. My brain only has value if I use it to foster independent thought. So it doesn’t matter if the ultra-leftists curse me or the ultra-rightists criticize me; none of them can change my view of the world, nor can they shake my views on society and human nature. Yesterday I was chatting with my classmate Yi Zhongtian [37] Yi Zhongtian (b. 1947) is a Chinese writer, academic, and historian. He is a professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Xiamen University and has published widely in the fields of literature, art, aesthetics, and history. He is the author of numerous books and also well known for hosting several popular talk shows and documentaries. and I told him that I thought, at their core, those ultra-leftists and ultra-rightists were essentially the same. He wholeheartedly agreed with me. The reason I say these two radical groups are the same is simply because neither one of them is capable of accepting anyone with views different than their own. As Yi Zhongtian described it: “They are like two sides of the same coin; neither one is able to embrace a pluralistic environment; both of them want a world that only accepts one type of voice, one type of viewpoint.”

Every day I record the little things happening around me and add a few thoughts and feelings that I find interesting. This is a purely individual record written in diary form. It isn’t intended as a vessel for grand narratives, nor can it record all the details surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, and I certainly try to avoid the impassioned language of those idealistic young writers. Instead I try to write freely, getting my emotions down on paper. This isn’t a news chronicle, and it certainly isn’t a novel. At the same time, the emotions I express are often very different from those of other people, nor are they always in line with what other people expect. But an individual record is never supposed to fit into a standardized package. Isn’t that common sense? But there are some people who have expended boundless energy working up their anger toward me, all because of this diary. They waste what should be time spent doing enjoyable things to curse me. It’s a real shame. Of course, if they really derive so much pleasure from these hateful acts, perhaps I should just allow them to get their kicks.

I read an essay today that said Fang Fang shouldn’t be hiding out at home writing her diary based on gossip she hears; she should get out there in the field where everything is happening! How can I even respond to that? It isn’t a question of wanting to get out there in the field; I’m living in the field! The entire city of Wuhan is where this is happening! I am one of the nine million victims of this epidemic. My neighbors, classmates, coworkers are all locked down here in Wuhan; we all are. When they go online and share their experiences and what they have witnessed, why shouldn’t I be documenting all of that? Don’t tell me that only the sites where these doctors, police officers, and public service people are working qualify as “the field”! I’m here in the field recording what I hear and see, but if you insist on calling that gossip, there is nothing I can say; do as you wish.

Forget it, let’s not talk about this stuff.

In last night’s diary entry I raised the question of where all these new patients are coming from. Not long after that, a friend sent me a data spreadsheet of all the newly diagnosed patients in Wuhan. This allowed me to see that the new cases are not concentrated in one area; they are spread out all over the city. This means the idea of gradually starting to open up a few districts that are less heavily affected by the new coronavirus cases is simply not practical. Today one of my doctor friends sent a message to tell me “the coronavirus is now spreading in clusters”; these new cases are dispersed throughout all 13 administrative districts in the city. Right now the entire country has the coronavirus under control; the only task ahead is caring for those patients already infected. The only trouble spot is Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus has still not been able to be controlled; we need to remain vigilant.

The good news is that more and more people are being released from the hospitals. I looked up some government statements and it seems that after careful monitoring, there have been no observed cases of recovered coronavirus patients spreading the disease to others. Moreover, most of the new cases have turned out to be patients who were previously in the “suspected cases” category; the ratio seems to be as high as 80 or 90 percent. These government sources are much more optimistic than what I am hearing from my doctor friends. They have already reached their target of having hospital beds available at all times. It wasn’t long ago that hospital beds were so tight that the temporary hospitals were forced to admit some of the more serious cases. Now all those patients in critical condition have been removed from the temporary hospitals and transferred to the main hospitals. My doctor friend said that actually the “serious cases” we are seeing right now cannot compare to what we were dealing with just a few weeks ago.

The death rate has dramatically declined. There are a lot of people posting stories online stating that recent autopsies of deceased coronavirus patients have discovered an issue with built-up phlegm in many of the victims. That led to new treatment measures, which have cut the number of deaths in half. My doctor friend said that “the decline in deaths should be attributed to a multitude of factors: All our medical resources have been replenished, medical caregivers can now deliver better and more specialized care thanks to an increase in abilities, energy, and resources; but it is certainly much more than just the result of some discoveries made during recent autopsies. Once patients take a turn for the worse, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) sets in and large amounts of fluid begin to collect in the pulmonary alveoli and it is common for large amounts of sticky mucus to form. In many instances, the first thing that doctors do once a breathing tube is inserted is to extract the excess mucus either via a suction tube or through a bronchoscopy. However, because the sticky phlegm builds up and congeals inside the bronchus and pulmonary alveoli, it cannot be sucked out, which is a common sign of ARDS. This is precisely why the lungs are unable to function normally; even if the patient receives pure oxygen, it still isn’t enough to compensate for dangerously low blood oxygen levels.” Those were the doctor’s exact words. I was only able to get a basic understanding of some of the technical points, so I naturally cannot comment on how accurate this assessment is. But with my doctor friend’s permission, I have included what he wrote above as part of the record.