Letters | Coronavirus: Chinese people’s heroic war on epidemic shows their greatness as a nation

Currently, China is suffering from a deadly coronavirus that causes pneumonia-like symptoms. The government has taken serious and speedy actions to try to control the outbreak. As a Pakistani student in Hefei, I learned from media reports how the Chinese government and people from every walk of life are playing their role to deal with this dreadful situation.

I admire the Chinese government, which has been doing a great job. Early on, it imposed a lockdown on 10 cities, including the epicentre Wuhan. It is spearheading the building of two temporary hospitals in Wuhan dedicated to treating coronavirus patients. The facilities, offering a total of 2,300 hospital beds, are expected to open next week, just 10 days after construction began.

The government has also deployed military doctors to help and set aside 11.21 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) to fund the fight against the epidemic. These measures reflect the government’s determination to tackle this public health emergency.

The dedication of Chinese researchers and medical professionals also plays a key role. During the 2002-03 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak, for example, scientist Zhong Nanshan was instrumental in containing the spread. With the more advanced research facilities today, I am confident medical scientists have even better chances of finding an effective vaccine for the 2019-nCoV.