Quiet efficiency

Chinese officials say life in Wuhan is back to normal, but they refuse to talk about the virology institute, a key player in China's advancements in life sciences

- RABI BANERJEE

After a lull, the Covid-19 virus has come back to haunt China. On May 31, the country reported a sudden spurt in infections, with most of the cases coming from Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong province in southern China, located close to Hong Kong. Scientists have found out that the new strain is quite similar to the one which struck India during the second wave.

“We don’t want to blame India. We understand that no country can be responsible for the virus. We are total with India,” said a representative of the Chinese government. But speaking to Chinese scientists, especially those affiliated with the National Bio-safety Laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, has become virtually impossible.

A health department official said the Guangzhou cases were a cause of concern. “Vaccination efforts have been intensified because of the sporadic outbreaks. On May 29, nearly 12 million people from Guangzhou received the jab,” he said. In Beijing, the vaccination rate is around 80 per cent. The rate was a little low in major cities except Wuhan, but with the virus making a comeback, the speed of vaccination has increased.

So far, around 66 crore Chinese— nearly half the population of China— have been vaccinated. Even when the infection went down last year, China did not stop the measures to take care of its people.