Tag Archives: COVID-19

Finland’s Restrictions on entry into the country to be tightened due to COVID-19

09/24/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

Stockholm, 24 September, (Greenpost)– Today, the Finnish Government adopted a decision on restrictions on entry into the country, which will enter into force on 28 September. Restrictions on entry will be reintroduced for traffic between Finland and Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Slovakia and Sweden, as well as for residents of Canada, Georgia and Tunisia who are travelling from their home country to Finland. Restrictions will be lifted for traffic arriving in Finland from San Marino.

Day-to-day travel will still be permitted for local border communities at Finland’s land border with Sweden and Norway. In addition, from Monday 28 September, people will be able to come to work in Finland from Sweden and Estonia without a 14-day self-isolation period.

From now on, the list of restricted and permitted countries will be reviewed on a weekly basis and updated as necessary. Changes in entry restrictions will be made based on an expert assessment by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) using data from each Monday. The limit value of 25 new cases per 100,000 persons in the previous 14 days will apply to the EU and Schengen countries and the countries on the Green List defined by the Council of the European Union. Any changes will be decided on at the Thursday government session.

Restrictions on internal border traffic from 28 September

Internal border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and other Schengen countries. Starting from 28 September, entry into Finland from Cyprus, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Poland, San Marino and the Vatican will not be restricted.

As a result of the Government’s decision, restrictions on internal border traffic will be in force from 28 September for traffic between Finland and Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, apart from certain exceptions.

At the internal borders, restrictions on entry allow only return traffic to Finland, transit traffic, work-related travel and travel for other essential reasons, apart from the above-mentioned exceptions. A 14-day period of self-isolation is recommended for travellers arriving in Finland. Starting from 1 October, travellers may, at their discretion, shorten their period of self-isolation by taking two voluntary COVID-19 tests.

Restrictions on external border traffic from 28 September

External border traffic refers to traffic between Finland and non-Schengen countries. Starting from 28 September, restrictions on external border traffic will be lifted for traffic arriving in Finland from Cyprus, San Marino and the Vatican, and for traffic between Finland and Australia, Japan, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand and Uruguay for residents of these countries.

People may come to Finland from the following countries for work or another essential reason: Andorra, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Monaco, Romania and the United Kingdom. A 14-day period of self-isolation is recommended for travellers arriving in Finland.

For all other non-Schengen countries, restrictions on entry allow only return traffic to Finland and other EU and Schengen countries, transit traffic at Helsinki Airport and other essential traffic. In addition, a 14-day period of self-isolation is recommended for travellers arriving in Finland.

Starting from 1 October, travellers may, at their discretion, shorten their period of self-isolation by taking two voluntary COVID-19 tests.

New health security measures from 1 October

Finland will introduce new travel-related health security measures from 1 October. These are based on the Government’s resolution of 11 September. The aim is to ease the conditions for work-related travel in particular.

From 1 October, two voluntary COVID-19 tests will be recommended for travellers arriving in Finland from countries with a higher incidence and from which entry into Finland is restricted. An exception is that people from Sweden and Estonia may come to work in Finland without self-isolation or testing. Similarly, residents of border communities at the land borders between Finland and Sweden and between Finland and Norway will not need to self-isolate.

Voluntary COVID-19 tests will allow travellers to shorten the recommended 14-day period of self-isolation.

Residents of Finland returning from countries with higher incidence rates could, at their discretion, shorten the 14-day period of self-isolation by taking a test at the airport or port as soon as they arrive in Finland, followed by a second test in their home municipality after 72 hours at the earliest from taking the first test.

For other travellers arriving in Finland, the recommendation will be to take the first test up to 72 hours (3 days) before arrival. The second test should be taken no earlier than 72 hours (3 days) after entry into the country. Until receiving the result of the second test, persons entering the country should remain in self-isolation at their place of residence. The self-isolation period will end if the test result is negative. If the test result is positive, the doctor will place the person in quarantine until they have recovered.

Travellers staying in Finland for less than three days (less than 72 hours) will not be required to quarantine or take a second test.

Restrictions on entry and recreational travel

When entry into the country is restricted, recreational travel to Finland from the countries in question is no longer allowed. In this case, only return traffic to Finland, transit traffic, work-related travel or travel for other essential reasons are allowed. In addition, self-isolation and testing are recommended for travellers.

The lifting of entry restrictions means that recreational travel to Finland is permitted for people from these countries. In this case, travellers will not need to self-isolate upon their arrival in Finland or take a COVID-19 test.

Rights of Finnish citizens and residents of Finland

Under section 9 of the Constitution of Finland, Finnish citizens and residents of Finland always have the right to return to Finland, and everyone has the right to leave Finland if they so wish, provided that there is no legal impediment to this. However, the Government still recommends avoiding unnecessary travel to other countries, except for countries for which the restrictions on entry have been lifted.

Self-isolation

According to the guidelines of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, it is not recommended to go to a workplace, day care centre or school during the period of self-isolation. Essential travel, such as a visit to a doctor, is allowed. In this case, it is recommended to wear a face covering or a face mask. Public transport should be avoided. Travellers arriving in the country will be given instructions on how to proceed.

Travellers must be aware of the current entry and quarantine regulations of their country of destination and they must take into account the quarantine recommendations for those returning to Finland. Travellers must find out themselves what their travel insurance covers in the event of a pandemic. Each traveller should check the current instructions. The entry and quarantine instructions of the country of destination on the websites of the authorities of the country of destination.

China, Chinese circle, Indepth

Lianhuaqingwen har inte bara mentol utan 13 örter

05/10/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

Av Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, May 10(Greenpost) — Swedish Radio och Aftonbladet rapporterade den 6 maj att svenska Tulleverket och Läkeverket hade testat den kinesiska traditionella örtinnehållsmedicinen Lianhuaqingwen som de konfiskerade och gav en slutsats att läkemedlet inte fungerar och endast innehåller mentol i det.

Denna rapport sprids till Kina och kinesiska medicinska akademiker och relevanta organisationer reagerade omedelbart på denna nyhet och förklarade att den svenska slutsatsen inte var komplette. Nyheterna sa att svensk tjänsteman sa att han inte hittade tillräckligt med bevis för att medicinen är användbar eftersom han bara hittade mentol i den, men nämnde inte något annat och hävdade att det inte fanns några relevanta artiklar om det. Denna slutsats visar att han inte hittade artikeln om Lianhuaqingwen eller läste den. Han fann varken annat i medicinen eller så hittade han något men han visste inte vad de var. Nyheter från kinesiska Dr. Li sa att det faktiskt fanns 13 ingredienser eller komponenter i medicinen. Men bara mentol har ett välkänt kemiskt format medan de andra kinesiska örterna inte hade kemiskt format. Till exampel, Nobel Prisvinnare Tu Youyou hittade kemiskt form i kinesiska örter och sedan kan man tillverka massiva läkemedel.

De 13 ingredienserna är Lianqiao som är Forsythoside E, Jinyinhua som är kaprifol, liknande maskros, luding är Rutin, mahuang, dahuang, som är Epherdra, bitter aprikoskärna, gips, banlangen som är ett välkänt antivirusmedicin i Kina. Banlangen uppfanns i mitten av 1990-talet.

De 13 ingredienserna är Lianqiao som är Forsythoside E, Jinyinhua som är kaprifol, liknande maskros, luding, Rutin, mahuang, dahuang, som är Epherdra, bitter aprikoskärna, gips, banlangen som är en välkänd antivirusmedicin i Kina. Banlangen uppfanns i mitten av 1990-talet.

Jag minns att jag en gång blev ombedd att översätta specifikationerna för läkemedlet eftersom mina radiofolk ofta ombads att göra den här typen av översättningsjobb. Men jag vägrade att göra det eftersom jag kände att jag visste så lite om medicinkunskap. Men med åren har Banlangen blivit en daglig medicin som Alvedon i Sverige. Om människor har en influensatyp kan människor ta Banlangen. Om de har bakterietyp förkylning, kan de bara ta ganmaochonji en slags liten partikel typ av pulver och bara lägga det i en kopp varmt vatten och dricka det.

Mianmaguanzhong, jag vet inte vad det är, men Yuxingcao är också ett välkänt namn för att hantera ögon, Huoxiang är också en mycket vanlig men väl effektiv kinesisk medicin. Hongjingtian en växter i Tibet och är känd för sin funktion för att hjälpa dig att få tillräckligt med oxegon. När vi var i Tibet kände en kollega att han saknade oxegon, han gick för att köpa oxegonflaska och Hongjingtian. Gancao var också en kinesisk medicin både i tablettform eller i rå örtform. Man kan svälja tablett, eller dricka vatten som suger gancao örten. Den sista är exakt mentol.

Mentol är verkligen en bra komponent för olika typer av kinesisk medicin. Mintsocker i Lidl hjälper dig faktiskt om du har ont i halsen. Akademiker Zhong Nanshan som var nyckelpersonen i att leda kampanjen mot Covid-19. President Xi Jinping ledde kampanjen genom att skicka sjukhus, läkare och sjuksköterskor och alla förnödenheter genom olika provinser, Zhong Nanshan var en symbol för teknisk del, mycket information och kunskap om covid-19 skickades ut genom Zhongs namn. Akademiker Zhang Boli som har gått hemma, men han kallades för att leda i kampanjen med sin rika kunskap om kinesisk medicin. De båda är auktoritativa medan Zhong var i västerländsk medicin och Zhang var i kinesisk medicin. Men båda rekommenderade Lianhuaqingwen. Under kinesiska krig emot covid 19, både kinesiska medicine och västra medicin samarbetade bra.

Låt oss titta på koronaviruset igen. Det är ett virus, men symptomen när människor får det är hosta, feber, rinnande eller torkande näsa och trötthet. Således symptom liknar en allvarlig förkylning. Endast när människor antingen är för svaga eller för friska för att kämpa mot viruset utan styrka eller för mycket styrka, hårt, så skadar det dina organ, särskilt lungan. Det mest typiska symtomet i slutändan är andningsproblem. Men i början blev du bara förkyld.

Och alla dessa komponenter eller ingredienser i Lianhuaqingwen är användbara i kampen mot kyla. Således kan det nästan behandlas som en mest kraftfull typ av medicin vid behandling av förkylning.

Enligt en gemensam studie av forskare vid Nanjing Chinese Medicine University och Shanghai Drug Research Institute under Chinese Academy of Sciences är Lianhuaqingwen hittills den mest funktionella medicinen för att hämma koronavirus från reproduktion och bota patienterna.

Enligt professor Fang Bangjiang från Longhua Hospital vid Shanghai Chinese Medicine University var det bara 20-30 procent av patienterna som hade feber. De flesta av dem hade inte feber. Han skickades till Leishenshan sjukhus i Kina som byggdes inom tio dagar efter stängningen av Wuhan den 23 januari.

Fang var ansvarig för en enhet som hade 108 patienter med lätta symtom. Han fann att patienterna hade ett enhetligt symptom, det var panik och rädsla, oro och svaga nerver. Efter att ha provat västerländsk medicin i en vecka fann han att den inte bara inte gav positiva resultat utan gav negativa effekter på levern. Således föreskrev han hela tiden kinesisk medicin efter en vecka. Den kinesiska medicinen lugnade huvudsakligen patienterna, befriade dem från panikskänslor och fick dem att sova bättre. Som ett resultat blev ingen mer allvarlig och ingen död hände i hans enhet. Som jämförelse, de som behandlades med västerländsk väg eller medicin, många av dem kunde bli värre och skickades till ICU. Enligt forskningsdokumentet användes Lianhuaqingwen också för svåra patienter och genom att lindra deras feber eller andra symtom räddades liv. Men hittills erkänner experter att det inte fanns något botemedel mot alla typer av medicin mot covid-19. Men som en stödjande medicin eller hälsosam produkt, de som bekräftas att bli covid-19 positiva, kan de ta Lianhuaqingwen. Oavsett om det fungerar eller inte, kan man känna det efter tre dagar. Om det efter tre dagar inte fungerade, känner du dig värre, måste du ringa läkaren igen.

Sverige har försökt sitt bästa för att hantera covid-19 och undvikit problemet Kina hade i början av att bli sjukhuset för trångt och nästan kollapsa. Sverige ville låta covid-19 hända långsamt, vilket är en bra idé. Men viruset älskar människor och kan snabbt spridas från en person till två personer om du har nära kontakter, till exempel i folkmassor, inte nödvändigtvis för att kyssa varandra. Det kan spridas genom spotta och nysa eller hosta. Men om människor håller sig isolerade kan viruset inte hitta någon annan att reproducera sig själv, det kommer att dö när personen återhämtar sig. Därför isolation är mycket viktigt.

Ju tidigare, snabbare att isolera, desto bättre. Till exempel, om svenska avbröt resan, avbröt Eurovisionen, avbröt födelsedagsfesten och isolerats snabbare och tidigare i andra områden där du bara hittade ett par fall, har antagligen viruset utplånats nu. Men ingen vet. Kanske det skulle ta två till tre månader på något sätt.

Tack vare svenska människor som är bra på att hålla socialt avstånd och mestadels följer regeringens instruktioner offrade inte svenska folk för mycket frihet och samhället fortsätter att fungera, vilket kan ses som en positiv aspekt. Men om människor särskilt de som blev smittade, men inte så långt de går till sjukhusintensivvård, kanske om de tar Lianhuaqingwen, kan det inte bara trösta dem, utan också förhindra att de blir värre.

För att säga att det bara har mynta i sig och inte fungerar, det låter som det bara är mintgodisen. Men det är helt enkelt inte sant.

Lianhuaqingwen var faktiskt bara en av de kinesiska medicinerna som hanterade covid-19. Jag antar att det blev berömt på grund av dess massproduktion och förpackning. Qingfei Paidu Tang eller lungrengöring och gift-utrotande sirap var också mycket populärt under covid 19-kampanjen i Wuhan, centrala Kina. Men den här typen av medicin är ren ört och måste kokas varje gång för varje person. Det är svårt att få massproduktion. Kinesiska läkare betonade också att det var en person med sitt eget recept enligt hans eller hennes eget symptom.

Kinesisk medicin stressar inte att döda viruset eller bekämpa viruset, utan betonade att läkemedlet hjälper patienter att bli starkare i immunsystemet och fysisk styrka genom att bli av med eller lindra symptomet.

Covid-19 är verkligen ett starkt virus som är mycket svårt att hantera eftersom det reproducerar sig så snabbt när det kom in i människokroppen och attackerade lungan. Genom att slå tillbaka med immunsystemet kan patienter andra organ som lever eller hjärta eller njure också skadas. Det var därför många människor dog av inte bara virus utan också flera andra kombinerade sjukdomar. Viruset kan skada ditt immunsystem. Således betonade de kinesiska läkarna att människor borde äta tillräckligt med protein och sova bra. Att bli dig själv stark är nyckeln till att ta itu med Covid 19.

华侨华人, 卫生与健康, 头条要闻

雷神山抗疫专家方邦江教授直播与瑞典、美、加、泰等国分享中医抗疫经验

05/02/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

北欧绿色邮报网和北欧中华网联合报道（记者陈雪霏）– 5月1日国际劳动节，抗击新冠肺炎疫情的雷神山医院抗疫专家方邦江教授举办直播、与北欧瑞典、美、加、泰等过分享中医抗疫经验，收看人数1200多人，受到医学界观众极大欢迎，让人受益匪浅。

本次直播的题目是“未病防患已病防传”海外华人如何采用中医防治covid – 19.

本次直播活动由科技部，北京市商委和国家中医药管理局的分支机构共同主办，由北欧中医药中心总经理田宇飙主持。具体机构是国家科技部下属的万方数据库万方医学网，北京商委下属的北京-斯德哥尔摩国际商贸发展中心，国家中医药管理局下属的北欧中医药中心和万方数据库的分支机构北美中医药发展中心。

本次抗疫专家专题讲座历时两个小时，通过网络同时向美国，加拿大，瑞典，挪威，丹麦，泰国等国家的华人华侨直播，讲座还邀请了国内外知名医学专家进行现场互动，是一次高质量的讲座。

方邦江教授4月18日已经和瑞典进行连线为数十位华人华侨进行精彩的讲座。随后，在此期间他又进行了六七次的讲座，通过网上照片辨认舌胎，为随机病人诊断开方，真是精力充沛，医术精湛，经验丰富，水平高超。

很多观众都听了好多次了，还是觉得百听不厌，每一次都能学到新东西。方教授通过冠状病毒的特点，如何对症下药，通过博大精深的中华古老文化，尤其是老子的道德经中的道法自然的原理，讲述了中医理论基础和在现实中的应用。

他说，Covid 19这个由世界卫生组织命名的新冠肺炎病毒有别于2003年的非典和中东呼吸综合症。其危险程度比非典高20倍。但同时，它也是可防可控可治的。只要运用正确的防治方法，一般情况下都没有太大危险。

首先，这是一种从口鼻传入的天地之逆气传染病。不同地区不同时间段会有不同的盛衰表现。根据中国古典医学，对于这种传染病应该采取道法自然的方法，治疗起来中国的中医有其优势。

其次，这个传染病有潜伏期，一般要在感染以后三五天才发病。同时，有治愈了还复阳的情况，或者就像美国100多年前的伤寒玛丽一样，她自己带有伤寒病毒，但是，她不发病，可是，她给谁家当保姆做饭，谁家的人就得伤寒病。新冠肺炎也有这样的例子，那就是无症状传染。据方大夫研究，在他接触的雷神山医院里110个左右的病人中，并不是每个人都有发烧症状，其中只有百分之20到30的人有发烧症状，大部分人没有发烧。但是，通过对病人的交感神经测试，发现所有人都有焦虑和恐慌的状况。因此，他发明了音乐和健身操，让病人消除焦虑和恐慌。

有些病人有腹泻的情况，一般7到10天。最严重的状况就是肺部受到严重影响，出现白肺，呼吸困难。对于感染病人的尸体解刨后发现，其实人的大脑，肝脏都有病毒，病毒还可以袭击心脏，造成爆发性心肌炎。因此，可以说这个病毒是很诡异的，多变的，直接袭击人的免疫系统，同时，袭击各个脏器。对于危重病人可以出现中风，手脚出现紫癜，浑身乏力等症状。

一般轻症患者是没有症状，普通型，痰少，因为谈在呼吸道很深的部位，磕不上来，但容易造成呼吸道障碍，因此，呼吸困难。

方教授说，针对传染病，中医是有很好的应对方法，对于急症，普通症都可以治，但也可以防。那就是提高免疫力，增强体质。利用针灸的方法也是可以治疗的。

中医不是搞对抗。病毒变异后打破人体的阴阳平衡，因此，中医就是要省有余而补不足。

方教授列举了他的老师朱良春利用中医药的白虎人滲汤治疗乙脑，也就是脑膜炎。

他说，他所在的雷神山医院的一个区里100多人中有70多人是完全用中医药治好的。第一周的时候，他还用一点西药，但是，发现不但疗效不明显，而且还伤肝，因此，第二周开始完全采用中医药，对每个人的方子他都把关。他自己每天坚持在第一线，有时候，光靠喝牛奶，因为牛羊肉凉了，不好吃了，后来，他自己甚至需要坐轮椅上班，但是，他都一直坚守。对每一个病人都认真对待。

一开始有一个病人非常气不顺，经常骂人。他就用湖北话和他沟通。因为他是湖北人，后来，病人治好了，对他们不但道歉，还表示非常感谢。

方教授一直强调，要把病人当人看，就是要整体地看，不要只之其一，不知其二，因为人体是一个互相联系的整体。圣人治未病。就是固护正气。

人要吃的好，有营养，注意卫生，个人卫生，环境卫生都要注意，要消毒，要勤洗手。要好好隔离。出门去人多的地方要戴口罩。

他说，人参，太子参，西洋参都很好，益母草，马鞭草也都很好。他提醒大家记住药食同源。人们就是要注意营养，提高免疫力，来应对病毒。因为目前还没有直接对抗病毒的药。只能是增强自己的体质。通过中医中药的防治，可以度过病毒疫情的难关。

方教授一个半小时的讲座让人感觉时间过得很快。来自中国，美国和加拿大的嘉宾都表示受益匪浅，通过讲座了解了中华医学文化的博大精深。同时，也和方教授进行了互动并期盼再次听到方教授的讲座。

方邦江教授是武汉雷神山医院感染三科五病区主任，武汉雷神山医院中医药防治COVID——19专家组副组长，武汉雷神山医院特殊抗生素使用会诊专家和上海中医药大学附属龙华医院援鄂国家中医医疗队队长。

News, Opinion

Analysis: Is China’s Donations or Supplies of Masks a Game?

03/31/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

On Page 14 of Swedish Daily DN’s World page, there was a documentary called China and the Game around the Czeck’s masks. A Green Post reader also mentioned that Swedish Radio talking about China’s donation of medical goods to the western world as a kind of game.

Someone called it diplomacy, I am not opposed it. But call it a game, it is with a kind of negative mentality in it. I think it is exactly this problem that we need to learn from each other about how we thought and why we did what we had done.

Suppose China weren’t attacked by cover-19 and had a lot of medical goods and they donated the suffering Europe, then you could suspect if China was sincere or selfless because they didn’t suffer anything.

But now the fact is that China had suffered from this virus themselves severely. But they worked so hard that they finally controlled the spreading of the virus. And with the breakout in Europe, many students flew back to China and about 45 new cases took place among the returned people from abroad. Most of them were Chinese.

We should feel good that China now can resume to work and produce more medical goods. While Wuhan was severely attacked by the virus, many other areas were much less attacked because of the isolation policy. Therefore resumption of production took place in most of northern areas and Guangdong province, Zhejiang province and Jiangsu province and Henan province.

While the big industrial cities such as Dalian produce masks production machines, many factories in the south produce masks.

There are many kinds of masks. One is common masks, ordinary people can use them for several times. The other kind is daily used or single use surgical masks. That is used for doctors in normal cases. And N95 or KN95 are used for treatment or taking care of covid-19 patients.

In China, they even tried the robot to send food to the patients in order to avoid contact. But in light symptom treatment place, the patients got a lot of extra care such as singing or dancing or playing Taiji or Baduanjin.

The report about buying and selling of masks is like this. At beginning, when China suddenly on Spring Festival issued such a call to need N95 masks or gloves and other protective material, it was like an order or a strong call in which overseas Chinese immediately collected money from their own purse and then bought the masks and tried all means to send them to China with various efforts to save lives.

It was quite understandable that they did that. And with such an effort China stopped spreading of virus. Now Europe needed the masks because we knew that a lot of them were bought by Chinese, so China either donate or sell back to European countries.

At beginning they also bought everything from here, so now they will sell back. Donation also happens so that people understand what kind of products they need and whether it will be accepted by people. With Swedish experts and media talking a lot about wearing mask useless, people didn’t have a desire to buy it and I heard the doctor said even they wanted to buy, they could not get it because the apotek ran out of masks.

As for the price, it is negotiable. The price went with the demand. The goods are some for donation and some for selling, everything should be under negotiation.

When needed, the government should allocate resources to protect the doctors and nurses. The market should also allow the apotek to import some ordinary masks so that those who need them can buy from the apotek.

To say it is a game, it is too much. Many Chinese felt Swedish acted slowly but cannot help thinking of helping. On the other hand, without your consent, it is difficult to act. With all the negative news, it is hard for Chinese to act. Should they really donate? or should they keep silent and do nothing? All the sharp words made people think whether they should take action or not.

Also about the mentioning of certain areas people, it will raise the issue of discrimination. Actually Qingtian people are good business people and they have been serving as a bridge between China and European countries.

It is difficult to do business with governments, they began to do business among themselves and surrounding people.

China intended to help European countries especially which are friendly.

Meanwhile, recently there were also reports about the quality. I like to say that it showed another difference between Chinese and westerners. In China for some people they also tested three times. Only by three times negative, that would be negative. Some people could not be tested as positive, Chinese doctors thought their infection was not serious. While in the west, one said it was quality problem immediately. But the truth was that those people didn’t use them properly.

I think we should trust China because it didn’t make mistake by purpose. They always have good intentions. It was the west who always had such critics all the time against China.

Opinion

Analysis: Has China Hidden Anything about Covid-19?

03/31/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

China spent all its efforts to isolate covid-19 and informed the World Health Organization every day as a way to inform the whole world since January 3. With a big sacrifice, China delayed about two months for covid-19 to break out all over the world.

Now when the US began to test, they found they had large number of people infected. Trump blamed China to have hidden information about it. Has China hidden anything about Covid-19? No. It is unfair to blame China only.

China was hit by covid-19 as a sudden attack. Many people were busy celebrating the New Year’s Day and preparing for the important Chinese Spring Festival in December and January. However, unfortunately some people got infected in December already.

China’s CDC sent two investigation teams to investigate it and wanted to find out whether it was a large scale pandemic, epidemic or just individual cases.

It was similar to 2003’s SARS when there were just six or seven cases, people didn’t feel it was serious compared with politics when US invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, the focus of the world followed American rythme then. In 2019, people were also driven by news such as assasination of Iranian military leader Sulemani with no man airplane, for the first time in history, a modern weapon no man driven airplane was used to kill a man some one considered as their enemy. And then Iran shot down an airplane with more than 100 passengers including their own citizens by mistake. The world was in a tense situation during this dramatic period.

In China due to the large population, especially Wuhan which was a huge city with the population more than that of the whole Sweden, 14 million while Sweden has 10 million.

I guess they must have struggled for some time too to inform everybody that this was a pandemic or epidemic or it was just individual cases. Thus, it was a back and forth process recognize it as an epidemic. And it was decided with the inspection and judgement of the World Health Organisation.

Chinese doctors realized that the virus infected people through people, thus it declared to take the most strict method to control covid-19.

China took it as a campaign to fight against the virus, control it by isolation and treatment. Many people sacrifice their freedom and stay at home since January 24th. Both the Chinese and western medicine doctors joined the war against the covid-19.

The Chinese theory was to strengthen people’s immunity to endure the virus while in western medicine we haven’t found any effective medicine yet. The patients mainly relied on breathing machine. The Chinese tried some medicine too, but none of them can be effective enough. They combined both Chinese and western method to deal with cases, but the death toll was still over 3000 people.

The main lesson was that due to the quick spreading of the virus, suddenly more people were inffected and the hospital capacity could not cope with the patients. The almost collapse of the hospital caused the delay of care for patients. When the central government found this problem, they immediately decided to enlarge the coping capacity.

Two new temporary hospitals with negative pressure were built within ten days and a dozen other type of temporary hospitals for light symptom patients were built.

Four thousand doctors and nurses from the military and 20 thousand from other provinces were called to help.

Day by day China opened press conferences and published the numbers of total infected, suspected cases and the death toll. As a way of preventing from virus spreading, China took the measure to cremate the corpses immediately. They were put in well sealed plastic bags.

News came out not only through public media CGTN, but also new media with the call for people to stay at home and isolate the virus.

Meanwhile a lot of workers and volunteers were called to help buying things for people. It was sad that this happened right on Spring Festival. But it was also fortunate because people have accumulated a lot of food for at least a week. Therefore, when the city was closedown, there was a little time delay for food worries. But it also happened very quickly with the assistance from other provinces, the vegetables, rice and other things were also transported to Wuhan.

At beginning, Doctor Zhong Nanshan, the focal person during this campaign, in which a lot of advices were issued with his name, estimated that it would be two weeks to reach the peak, but then it took another two weeks to reach the peak. The potential time for the virus to explode could be 28 days. And with the progress of the campaign, people realised that the healing time could be four weeks or five weeks.

During the first week, all the villages were even sealed off. But after a week, goods transportation was somewhat resumed with special order. The supermarket has been opening all the time. People were allowed to go out to buy food every three days.

There were suspicion that the air could help spread the virus too. Those who were infected but showed no symptoms could also spread the virus. That was why it was somewhat very scary with this virus.

And it was not without confusion during this compaign. The social media constantly spread conspiracy news which confused people whether this was a natural disaster or man made mistake.

But China was concentrated in fighting against the virus by increasing the bonus for medical staff and allocated more staff from other provinces and cities. China even changed the old currency to replace them with new ones so that it avoided the virus spreading by touching it.

What happened then with the US, Germany and Sweden? Just a couple of days of closedown, the US sent an airplane to fetch American citizens back and declared to close down the customs to ban Chinese from going to America, which I didn’t think it was wrong in terms of self protection. But in addition to that, there were no other measures taken, but watching.

First, the Danish cartoonist paint virus on Chinese National flag, second American Secretary of Commerce Roth said this would help jobs to go back to America.

The Wall Street Journal even published a commentary calling Chinese ‘the patients in Asia’ which deeply hurt the Chinese emotions because it reminded Chinese of their humiliated history before the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In Swedish TV, immediately there was a negative report about Xinjiang and said the source was from Germany.

A leading writer Magnusson even wrote an article calling China ‘a political prison’ because of people staying at home?

On those days, I didn’t say anything, I didn’t think we need to demand apologies because these remarks were inhuman and evil and deserved no response. Of course many others didn’t think the same as I.

Overall, neither the US nor European countries thought this was a common disaster, it could spread to ourselves. They thought that was China’s problem and since they were busy dealing with disaster and had no time to respond, we just hit them politically. When the virus spread to Italy, Spain and Iran, some people think it was because they have close relations with China. Innocently it didn’t prevent the Swedes or others to continue to have holidays in Germany, Italy, Spain and Iran.

All the way, the ideological thinking drove people to think the virus had nothing to do with them and they were not afraid. They criticised panic, which was partly right, but partly neglected the severity of the virus.

China didn’t hide any information but tried to inform all they could including inviting the WHO delegation including American experts to China to inspect. By doing all China could, the virus was somewhat blocked for two months time before other areas broke out. But instead of preparing for the war against virus, they all put the fire on China.

Even when the US tested a few cases and found infections, Trump always said there was no problem. It was under control. The US didn’t test the virus early or thoroughly. There were reports saying that they tested long time ago, but then dropped the test. They called it the flu. Even the CDC official admitted that there were cases of covid-19 among flu infectors.

The right way is to pay attention to the war against cover-19 with all your national strength to save lives and more importantly protect the people.

If you don’t take measures, Event 201 gave a wonderful simulation on this virus, it predicted that 65 million people would die and all the business would stop.

Event 201 simulation was done by Johns Hopkins Health Security Center together with World Economic Forum and Melanda and Bill Gates Foundation with a kind of corona virus they called CAPS and that spread from Brazil and then spread to the US and China.

If you haven’t read that, you can just google Event 201 and you can see the scenario which was almost the same as what happened in the world now. Only that when it was in Wuhan, China did what exactly the simulation suggested and thus got the spreading slow down.

It suggested that the government, business and NGOs should all unite and combat this war against the virus. It didn’t suggest the suspension of cargo circulation because it was needed. Tourism was definitely down, but goods transportation should go on so that each country can have the supply of medical resources and other materials.

The conclusion is that China didn’t hide any information, but because they were not certain the scale of the virus and how shrewd the virus was, but as time went by, they took the measures to sacrifice the short term economy and save lives and prevent the virus from spreading. China used the isolation and putting on masks to prevent it. Since no other ways really cure, you can only avoid catching it.

In fact, there should be further studies because it was reported that the virus were not the same and changed a lot as it spread further.

It is unavoidable that the campaign against virus will cause a slowdown of economy, even recession because people stayed at home and limit consumption. The US allocated a lot of money to rescue the market. But the stock market didn’t function as how much money you put on, it functions more on confidence. The crisis cycle is coming and people don’t have confidence for near future, thus in my opinion, we have to bear for certain period of time of bad luck. Any recovery will happen after the end of this virus spreading in the world.

China

Chinese Embassy Spokesperson: Ideological Attacks Only Leads to Self-damage

03/30/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

In his article published in SVD, Johan Lagerkvist denigrated China’s efforts to fight COVID-19, and proceeded from ideological prejudice to attribute the epidemic to China’s political system, which runs against the facts, common sense and basic morality.

We solemnly inform him that the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and the institutional strengths are China’s most effective weapons to overcome the disease. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have fully leveraged the institutional strengths of the Party’s leadership and the mobilization system, always prioritized people’s safety and health, mobilized resources across the country in a fast and comprehensive manner and formed strong synergy. Thanks to these efforts, China has effectively contained the epidemic, gained valuable time for and made significant contribution to the world. This once again illustrates the strengths of China’s system, which is in line with the fundamental interests of the Chinese people. In fact, many countries are learning China’s successful experience in tackling and containing the virus.

An epidemic may occur at any time in any country or region, and the virus is the common enemy of all mankind. Facing the severe situation, every country, every government, every organization and every individual should proceed from their own condition and shoulder due responsibility, and contribute their part to the fight against the disease. Using an epidemic for political purpose, waging an ideological attack and spreading lies in the name of “freedom of speech” will only lead to self-damage. It is like lifting a rock only to have one’s own toes squashed. Nor will it lend any help to easing the epidemic situation in countries around the world, including Sweden.

Source Chinese Embassy

China, World News

Ambassador Gui Introduces the Positive Results of China’s Epidemic Containment and Mitigation Measures to the Diplomatic Missions in Sweden

02/24/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

Stockholm, Feb. 24(Greenpost)– On 20 February, Dr. Andrea Ammon, Director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), held a briefing for the diplomatic missions in Sweden at the Center to introduce the new developments of COVID-19 and the close exchange and cooperation between the ECDC and the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention. She also recommended that the missions keep in contact with the ECDC and obtain objective information from the Center’s website. Ambassador Gui Congyou attended the briefing together with diplomatic envoys of more than 30 Embassies in Sweden, including Italian, Croatian, Austrian, Lebanese, and Bulgarian Embassies.

Ambassador Gui expressed his appreciation for the ECDC and Dr. Andrea Ammon for their professionalism in presenting the developments of COVID-19 in an objective way, which helps prevent spread of rumor and panic.

Ambassador Gui said that after the outbreak of COVID-19, our Embassy was instructed by the Chinese Government to maintain close communication with relevant departments of the Swedish Government and experts and provide updates in a timely manner. Some Swedish experts told me that there is no need to panic since an epidemic can occur in any country or region, and what is crucial is to make all-out efforts to prevent and control it. The Communist Party of China and Chinese Government have taken stringent measures above what is required by WHO standards and the International Health Regulations, and implemented the national joint prevention and control mechanism, which have generated positive results. The number of newly confirmed cases in areas other than Hubei Province dropped from more than 800 cases on 3 February to 45 yesterday, decreasing for 16 consecutive days. The daily number of new cases in Hubei Province decreased from more than 2000 to less than 1000. Since 1 February, the number of cured cases has exceeded the number of deaths. These positive changes indicate that China’s prevention and control measures are effective, and that the epidemic is preventable, controllable and curable.

Ambassador Gui said that as experts from various countries are yet to fully figure out the pathogens and modes of transmission of this new type of corona virus, it will still take some time to develop effective medicine and vaccines. The Chinese Government will continue to take stringent containment and mitigation measures. By doing so, we shoulder the responsibility not only for the Chinese people, but also for people around the world.

Ambassador Gui said that China has been maintaining close communication and cooperation with relevant countries and the major disease prevention and control centers all over the world, including the ECDC, in the principle of openness and transparency. The epidemic is a challenge not only to China’s public health security, but also to the international public health security. We hope that all countries will strengthen solidarity, follow WHO recommendations, avoid overreactions and maintain normal people-to-people and trade exchanges, to jointly overcome the epidemic.

The diplomatic envoys gave their thanks to Ambassador Gui for his introduction, applauded China’s great efforts and sacrifices to contain and mitigate the epidemic, and expressed the confidence that China can overcome the epidemic at an early time.

China, Chinese circle, Indepth, Opinion, Scientific Research

Turning point against COVID-19 has not come yet, says China

02/22/2020 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Feb. 22(Greenpost) — Today a news was spreading around the wechat circle. That was Academician Zhong Nanshan smiled. Dr. Zhong was considered as a hero in anti-SARS campaign in 2003 because he was one of the first who declared this was a serious epidemic and caused attention from the government.

Dr. Zhong Nanshan Smiles

Donations from Swedish Chinese and Chinese business to send out

This time Dr. Zhong was also the most authoritative voice saying that the corona virus could spread from person to person and at a faster speed.

When he was interviewed before, he was very serious and looked a bit tired and stressed. He almost cried when he was interviewed for the first time when he mentioned that Wuhan people sang the national song through the windows in the evening after the order was issued that Wuhan city was closed and all the people should stay at home.

It was indeed very moving and respectful for Wuhan people because in front of the sudden attack of the virus and the determined order of closing a city which has a population of 14 million. It was not an easy decision because even after the decision, Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xingwang was still saying that this was historic and if anything wrong with it, he would like to shoulder the responsibility.

Some people thought he should have closed Wuhan even earlier, but it is indeed understandable that the decision needed scientific evaluation which took time and efforts.

Dr. Zhong was 84 years old and he was very respectful. Both leaders and people really listen to him and thus a lot of notices were issued or advised with his name. But when mentioned Dr. Li Wenliang who first issued the news in his Wechat circle among friends and colleagues but got infected and died at age of 34, Dr. Zhong said Li was a hero and he should be respected too. At that moment, tears also sheded from his eyes.

But yesterday at a press conference in Guangzhou, he took off his mask and smiled. This smile implied a relief that the COVID-19 had been under control. The newly infected cases have decreased for a consecutive 16 days outside Hubei province. He did not say the turning point has come. He said Wuhan is still the heavily infected area. But the trend is in positive direction.

According to news from CDC China the newly diagnosed cases reached to 397 while the new death cases reached to 109 with accumulated cases reaching to 76288 and death toll 2345 and recovered cases 20659. Recovered number goes beyond 20 thousand.

Yesterday they also lifted observation for 26441 people. Accumulated close contacts were 618915 people and 113564 of them are still on observation.

Hubei has 366 newly diagnosed infected cases while 1767 cases were recovered yesterday. 106 people including 90 from Wuhan died. Total death accumulated to 2345 people.

47647 people in Hubei have been identified as infected and Hubei’s beds in hospital also almost reached 40 thousand. Thus those who are in need can possibly get a bed. 10892 people are severely infected. 13557 people have recovered and left hospital so far in Hubei province.

During the campaign against the COVID-19, Chinese medicine exerted a great role. Dr. Zhong Nanshan said Chinese medicine can exert a role in alleviating the symptom.

Many Chinese medicine doctors used many kinds of herbal medicine to clear the lung and improve the immune system so that the patients can have more strength to fight against the virus.

The theory is that Chinese medicine is used to improve patients’ immune systems while the western medicine theory is to combat the virus and reduce infections but the side effect is very serious.

Chinese medicine doctors even teach the patients to play Baduanjin, a kind of Taiji exercise. They treat each patient with personal treatment and the result was quite good. The Chinese medicine is used to treat the light infected patients and prevented them from getting worse.

China’s control of the COVID-19 is seen as effective because it avoided large scale infection around the world. By closing down the big city and controlling spread of virus, many people believe this could only be done in China under the leadership of the CPC. Chinese government under the leadership of President Xi and CPC have taken stronger measures to control the spreading with the leading role played by respected doctors and nurses and party members.

China has exerted its advantage and tradition of helping each other among all provinces, for example 16 provinces provided help with their capacity to Hubei province and overseas Chinese also gave donations of masks from the beginning to Hubei provinces hospitals. Two years ago when I was in Xinjiang, they said they were grateful for 19 brotherly provinces to support them. Now when Hubei suffers from COVID-19, sister areas in Xinjiang donated a lot of apples to Hubei showing the Chinese culture of helping each other when in need.

It is worthwhile to mention that there was one city in Hubei province closed its city a week earlier and the infection was substantially reduced. Sichuan province and Henan Province were also very strict in preventing the virus from spreading and very effective.

Zhejiang province got second most infections since it has close relations with Hubei province. But Zhejiang province took even more strict measures in controlling the spreading of the virus and put it under control sooner.

Zhang Jixian who found 7 cases and reported to CDC first.

So far, many provinces have resumed production and workers in western China were sent back to eastern regions with chartered airplanes or chartered fast trains since the traffic became rare during the Chinese Spring Festival.

Many Chinese said this spring festival was very special, but it was also normal because this year all the families must stay at home and children don’t need to go back to school so soon.

Many feel panic and worried while many others use the chance to study or do something more interesting in addition to dance and exercise at home.

With Wechat, people can share information and encourage each other or help each other.

Chinese humor also appeared during the anti virus campaign. For example love was sent through the message and the answer can be “lets not meet now.”

One of humor was very interesting and here I translated it as the following:

Wuhan has made eight contributions to the world:

Hong Kong demonstrators stopped demonstration.
Macaos casino was closed for the first time in history.
60 weeks demonstration in France stopped due to a woman from Wuhan arriving there.
Middle East war fairs are somewhat decreasing.
All the outside school courses have stopped. Education ministry could not stop it, but Wuhan did it.
The large scale eating and drinking life style stopped overnight. Even Chinese disciplinary committee could not stop it before.
Most of the Chinese families became united and harmonious because the husband and wife have to be at home day and night.
During these days, even the thieves stopped stealing because if they go to the street, there are no people and if they visit homes, all family members are there.

In addition, writers, artists and educators are also working at home. Many teachers began online teaching or live broadcast. Many home business started and many innovative ideas came out and actions taken at home with internet.

During the campaign, postmen were very busy and they job quardruppled. Many restaurants were severely affected, but the fast food somewhat better survived.

During the first week people relied on their stored food for the week long spring festival. But after two weeks, people have to go out to buy food and in some area, the practice was that every three days one family can send out one person to buy all the groceries.

The market supply is still there and many provinces donated things they have such as vegetables, apples, cabbage and rice. At beginning, Wuhan gave the vegetables to the market, but after the donor questioned about it, people stopped that action, but it also appeared that the vegetables got rotten because short of personnel to deliver it. Thus, I think it is not a bad idea to send these vegetables to the market sellers either donate or with low cost. Because it is hard for the Red Cross to redistribute these vegetables to every family or hospital or other units. Let market function is not a bad idea.

During the first week, it was somewhat panic because all over the world, the overseas Chinese said they donated goods, but due to the closedown of traffic and many countries stopped airlines, it took longer time for the good to arrive in Wuhan or Hubei, some took two or three weeks.

Due to the panic mentality, there have been some episodes of the news or communication driven by social media to lead to people’s sadness such as Dr. Li Wenliang’s death, the poetic and friendship words on donation packages from Japan aroused a big discussion. Some people said the Japanese are more educated than Chinese who only know to say Cheer up Hubei, Wuhan, or God Bless China. But as more patients were cured and more hospitals were built, the desperate mentality has been cured.

Huoshenshan Hospital was built with 10 days showing Chinese speed.

At the very beginning, China also stunned the world by building a Huoshenshan hospital and a Leishenshan hospital by about ten days. Huoshenshan means God of fire mountain and Leishenshan means God of thunder mountain. The hope is that the fire and thunder will definitely kill the virus with their power or magic working like holy spirits.

In addition to two new hospitals, many Noah Ark like hospitals were also built to host more than 40 thousand patients infected by COVID-19.

It seemed to me that in China, with the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and its 89 million party members, the government gives orders, the enterprises cooperate in keeping supply lines and the society echoed all the calls. So the government, enterprises and society united much better than normal times in front of the disasters.

In this sense, I would like to give the credit to the party members because while in dangerous situation, it was always the party members should step forward and face the danger first.

For example, during this anti virus campaign, over 30 thousand doctors and nurses voluntarily answered the call and went to Wuhan to work in those new hospitals. Most of them are party members and many of them who are not would like to join the party on site. This spirit was really moving.

According to reports, due to the uncertainty before the closedown of Wuhan and later with overload of work and stress, by February 11, 3019 doctors and nurses were infected by COVID-19 virus and 1716 cases were confirmed. Among them, 1502 cases were from Hubei province.

During this campaign, nine doctors including two professor doctors, one hospital president died at work. They have become a martyr for us all.

Yesterday I watched the Oct. 18 201 event simulation meeting organized by Johns Hopkins Health Security Center, World Economic Forum and Bill and Melanda Gates Foundation which discussed a lot about how to deal with such kind of serious virus epidemic or pandemic. This show actually caused a lot of conspiracy views which thought America has known this. But I think the discussion mainly focuses on a scenario that the government and business are difficult to form a partnership and the individualism ideas make people difficult to follow the information or guidance.

Indeed there were many rumours and fake news coming out mainly from anti China chinese in America. For example they smear the Wuhan P4 lab for leaking the virus. But as I interviewed Professor Duan from Karolinska Hospital, it is impossible to a P4 lab to leak anything out. It is a very scientifically built lab which has negative pressure which guarantee for the security. As for the scientists, it is also impossible for scientists to have such a low level ethics or break their ethical bottom line.

Some Chinese in America who suffered a setback during Chinas anti corruption campaign or Falungong related people, they only spread their hatrad, presumptions or fabrications plus their imaginations.

It is not difficult to imagine that Chinese hospitals would be extremely busy even during the normal time, let alone under the current situation.

In my opinion, Chinese system is actually functioning well because it is more centralized and the government answered the call of the people quickly and whole heartedly. Under the principle of putting the people’s lives in the center, Chinese economy is definitely affected.

But I think just because it is Spring Festival time, many production stopped anyway, the most damaged industry is tourism and restaurants and hotels. Thus, this effect is felt not only in China, but also many other countries including nordic countries such as Sweden and Finland.

Now since the virus is somewhat under control, it was reported that about 95 percent of production business began to resume.

For example, workers from Xinjiang were sent to Hunan by chartered airplanes with preventive measures. Slowly workers are on the working places now. So far only the students are still at home to enjoy their holidays.

Nowadays schools open earlier than 30 years ago when I was at university. Then the opening of schools was on March first. Nowadays it was usually after the Spring Festival holiday. Due to COVID-19, students can relax a little bit.

Finally about the COVID-19, it is a new kind of virus which was similar to SARS or MERs but not as deadly as those, but it spread faster. It can also spread to other people before you really have symptoms such as coughing, fever and fatigue. Those who are over 80 years old, the infection rate is 14.8%. The younger people are less likely infected. Those who died are mostly having other diseases such as cardiological problems, diabetes and high blood pressure.

The main prevention method is to isolate yourself, often wash your hand, don’t touch your face. It can spread by sneeze or spit. So Dr. Zhong adviced people to even pay attention to your shoes. Try to avoid stepping on any spit.

Where in the world comes the virus from?

So far it is still not clear where the virus comes from. According to early first seven cases, four persons came from a seafood and wildlife trading market, but three others didn’t come from there. The latest research from Yunnan branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that the virus does not come from that market because their samples show that it is the same as the other three.

Some people suspect that this virus might be the same as the American flu, or another version of the American flu.

But to be honest, no one knows where and when exactly it came from. It can be estimated that the very first spreading of the virus can be on November 27th. Someone said it might start on mid October, but due to the favorable climate, it didn’t break then. Due to the shrewdness of the virus, it can have longer incubation period of 24 days.

Maybe the cold and wet weather in Wuhan just provides the bed for the virus, it is hard to say. We have to wait and see how the scientists and researchers find out through autopsy and sample studies.

Text by Xuefei Chen Axelsson. Photos from web.