China's leadership in combating the novel coronavirus

Manama, the capital city of the Kingdom of Bahrain. /VCG

**Editor's note: **Since the COVID-19 outbreak, China has spared no effort in containing the virus and has managed to put the pandemic under effective control. Dr. Anwar Alabdulla is the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to China. He shared his view on China's anti-virus response in an open letter. Here is the full script of the letter. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the government and the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain, I wish to praise the massive and heroic response of the Chinese government, its health community and its people in their efforts to recognize, contain and control the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Chinese government has reacted quickly and forcefully to this huge, largely unknown and unpredictable global predator, demonstrating its strong public health capacities, its ability to innovate and to mobilize all resources to meet an unprecedented killer virus that has spread across all borders on our planet.

As the new coronavirus marches around the globe, the multitude of countries facing escalating outbreaks are eager to learn how China's decisive lockdowns, testing and destruction of transmission chains were responsible for bringing this crisis under control.

Many nations are now following China's lead in many aspects of combating the pandemic, also they conduct widespread testing, monitoring cases, and breaking transmission links.

These efforts could not have been so successful without the huge sacrifices and resolve of the Chinese people, who sacrificed work, avoided their friends and family in an isolation, and lost too many loved one to this brutal killer.

I wish to convey our condolences and sympathies to each and every one of these families, who have lost loved ones in this battle that could not be won without these resolute, painful and enduring sacrifices.

Pandemics like the novel coronavirus are extremely fast spread in the history of mankind but they are a faceless and unpredictable enemy that does not announce its identity, carry a flag, mobilize, and launch incursions according to any recognizable plan. Pandemics are stealthy, invisible, novel and brutal, invading whole populations without warning or schedule.

Governments, health authorities and normal people are all aware that novel viruses can strike at any time and thus some contingency plans, infrastructure and resources are put in place, but pandemics are a massive and unpredictable challenge that are not readily contained. Epidemiologists are fond of saying

"if you have experienced one pandemic, then you have experienced one pandemic”.

None of them are the same, but they may disguise themselves in a familiar form, but behave differently.

Under such circumstances, where nobody can be fully prepared and armed to combat coronavirus, we must praise the leadership and foresight of the Chinese health authorities in being the first country to post the full genetic makeup of the novel coronavirus in the World Health Organization (WHO) and other world databases used by epidemiologists and scientists to combat viruses.

This rapid and far-sighted response has greatly contributed to the detection and the containment of this virus, and ultimately, it will contribute to global efforts to develop vaccines.

Bahrain strongly endorses the sentiments of the Director General of the WHO in praising the leadership and huge commitment of the Chinese government and people, while reinforcing that China "needs the world's solidarity and support." The WHO reassures us all that "the world is pulling together to end the outbreak, building on lessons learned from past outbreaks".

The Chinese early response to the novel coronavirus has become a model for the rest of the world. A coronavirus simulation model in the UK concludes that the combined effect of China's early detection and isolation resulted in a massive drop in contact between people, and curtailed the virus's spread. Together, the study concludes that these measures prevented cases from increasing by "67-fold".

While the drop in contact between people was significant on its own, using mobile-phone location data from the Chinese Internet caused a dramatic reduction in people's movements and in person-to-person contact. Without this decrease, the same study concludes that 2.6 times more people would have been infected.

Aerial photo shows vehicles back to Wuhan wait to pass through a highway toll station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 24, 2020. /Xinhua

The Chinese people adopted the early use of face masks in containing the spread of the virus, but some countries were reluctant initially to introduce this measure before finally coming onboard.

The novel coronavirus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role—you have to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth.

Many people have asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.

The war against the novel coronavirus requires leadership, determination, sacrifices and international cooperation. As an early responder to the virus, with an effective model for its containment, China is in ideal position to help other countries benefit from the lessons that it has learnt.

The Chinese government and health authorities have shown remarkable generosity and leadership by sending medical teams abroad to share China's experiences in combating the virus.

China has donated or sold vital medical supplies to some 90 countries, including Europe, the United States, African, Latin American and Asian countries. In addition, Chinese experts have conducted countless video conferences with countries and international organisations to share its know-how.

Chinese medical teams are advising some host countries on building makeshift hospitals - evoking the 1,000-bed hospital China built from scratch in eight days in Wuhan - and rolling out virus management measures similar to those that helped it slash new infections at home.

Despite its international outreach to so many countries, China has naturally encountered criticism from some detractors. As I said previously, nobody has all the answers in the face of such a formidable and unknown foe.

However, in my opinion, the best and most honest response to this criticism is reflected in the words of Peng Zhiqiang, a specialist from the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and head of the Chinese team in Serbia: "We hope that other countries will not repeat China's tragedies". I hope that we repeat China's triumphs.

I wish to conclude in stating that the international community has much to learn from the humility, generosity, innovation, humanism and success of the Chinese people and medical professionals who are extending their hands and hearts to the international community to create common cause in battling this coronavirus scourge.

China has demonstrated to the world that the chains of this virus's transmission can still be interrupted, this pandemic can be contained, and people can go back to work and more normal lives with appropriate safeguards.

Bahrain wishes to join hands with the world community and express our appreciation for the decisive, and inspiring leadership and hard work of the Chinese government, medical professionals and people in combating this tragic pandemic 一 you give us all hope for a better future. Bahrain pledges its support and assistance to these noble efforts.

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