Sustainable COVID-19 Mitigation: Wuhan Lockdowns, Health Inequities, and Patient Evacuation

Document Type : Perspective

Author

1 School of Geoscience, Physics and Safety, College of Health, Science and Technology, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO, USA

2 School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin, China

Abstract

The world is urgently looking for ways to flatten the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) curve, and many governments have resorted to implementing strict lockdowns, as researchers show the effectiveness of China’s approaches in containing the virus. However, this paper argues that the draconian lockdowns instituted in Wuhan, Hubei, China, may have actually contributed to intensifying patient surges and incapacitating local health systems. Medical aids were rushed to Hubei and new hospitals were rapidly built, however, the healthcare system was still unable to match the staggering increase of patients in the early stages of the lockdowns. The paper proposes using patient evacuation to enhance sustainable COVID-19 mitigation during lockdowns. It demonstrates that patients in Hubei could have been transported to other Chinese provinces where hospitals were under-utilized. This could have theoretically saved thousands of lives by reducing inequities between Hubei and the rest of China in healthcare capacity for treating COVID-19 patients.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Chinazzi M, Davis JT, Ajelli M, et al. The effect of travel restrictions on the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Science. 2020;368(6489):395-400. doi:10.1126/science.aba9757
  2. Tian H, Liu Y, Li Y, et al. An investigation of transmission control measures during the first 50 days of the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Science. 2020. doi:10.1126/science.abb6105
  3. Cohen J. Nationwide Lockdowns Can Begin to Halt the Spread of Coronavirus in a Matter of Weeks. Forbes. March 2, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/unicefusa/2020/03/02/coronavirus-in-the-us-how-to-prepare/.
  4. Kupferschmidt K, Cohen J. Can China's COVID-19 strategy work elsewhere? Science. 2020;367(6482):1061-1062. doi:10.1126/science.367.6482.1061
  5. United Nations. Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations; 2015. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld.
  6. Liu L. China's dusty lung crisis: rural-urban health inequity as social and spatial injustice. Soc Sci Med. 2019;233:218-228. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.05.033
  7. Sina News. Covid-19 Epidemic Daily Updates. Sina News. 2020. https://news.sina.cn/zt_d/yiqing0121.  (Chinese).
  8. Liu Y. Saving Wuhan: The Hardest Three Weeks After Lockdown. Caijing; 2020. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/o2N_ie_P-H7NzH5-hUC9yA.  (Chinese).
  9. National Health Commission of China. 2019 China Health Statistical Yearbook. China Union Medical University Press; 2019. (Chinese).
  10. Wuhan Government. 2018 Wuhan Statistical Yearbook. China Statistics Press; 2019. (Chinese).
  11. China Red Cross Foundation. The 86th Group of 86 Healthcare Workers Receiving Donations from CRCF Zijie Tiaodong Charity for Healthcare Workers . https://www.crcf.org.cn/article/20242  (Chinese).
  12. Zhang Z. Each City with Ten Million Population Needs A “Xiaotangshan.” The Paper.  February 1, 2020. https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_5705263.  (Chinese).
  13. Dandanzan Health. How to Ensure Mental Health of the 30,000 Medical Workers Sent to Wuhan. https://www.twoeggz.com/info/300478.html.  (Chinese).
  14. BBC. Covid-19 Epidemic Affects Vulnerable Groups: Difficulty for Treatments for Non-Covid-19 Patients. BBC. 2020. https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-51624646.
  15. Xue S. After 67 Days of Waiting, A Liver Cancer Patient in Wuhan Was Finally Readmitted to the Hospital. The Paper.  April 8, 2020. https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_6860250.  (Chinese).
  16. European Commission. Coronavirus: European Solidarity in action. https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response/coronavirus-european-solidarity-action_en. Published April 22, 2020.
  17. World Health Organization. Managing Epidemics: Key Facts About Major Deadly Diseases. WHO; 2018.
International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 9, Issue 10
October 2020
Pages 415-418

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 09 April 2020
  • Revise Date: 25 April 2020
  • Accept Date: 26 April 2020
  • First Publish Date: 01 October 2020

Share

How to cite

Statistics