Coronavirus: Back to normal in Wuhan?

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2020

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What is life like now in the Chinese city where Covid-19 was first detected? Officials have declared Wuhan virus-free. Lots of people have been sharing pictures from bars in the city, which suggest life has gone back to the way it was before. Two people who live in Wuhan tell Nuala McGovern about their newly restored freedoms. In the Czech Republic, "farewell" to coronavirus parties were held at the end of June. As cases surge again, one of the organisers of that party talks about their tolerance for restrictions and how their lives have been changed. Meanwhile, people in Panama have just emerged from one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, which had one unusual feature. Men and women were allowed out of their homes on alternate days. We hear how three Panamanians feel about what they've been through and the implications for the future.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello I'm Nila McGovern and we're bringing you BBC OS, conversations about coronavirus here on the BBC World Service.
0:09.0	This time we share conversations from three countries at different stages of the pandemic and
0:15.6	as the city where it all started reduces its cases to zero, there is a more worrying situation
0:21.4	in Panama and the Czech Republic where COVID fatigue is very much at
0:26.4	the fore.
0:27.4	On Saturday I was going to the grocery store and I passed by a block party with, I don't know,
0:32.1	100 to 200 people, no one wearing masks and I just thought to myself this is why
0:37.2	None of this is ever going to end
0:47.6	The world changed at the end of 2019 when the Chinese city of Wuhan announced the discovery of a new and potentially dangerous coronavirus.
0:52.1	Nine months later officials have declared the city and potentially dangerous coronavirus.
0:52.6	Nine months later, officials have declared the city virus-free and recent photographs from
0:57.0	Wuhan with people in bars and nightclubs, many of them without masks,
1:01.8	show that life there is almost returning to normal.
1:04.9	Isaac teaches English as a foreign language in Wuhan and so we brought him together
1:09.4	with his friend Ula to hear how life has changed.
1:13.0	I was back in April, five months passed,
1:17.0	now it's like everything's back to normal.
1:19.0	Isaac, what did you get up to last weekend?
1:22.0	Me and Ula actually went to Mulan Sean, Mulan Mountain,
1:27.0	and looked at a bunch of temples.
1:30.0	But Wuhan, I think Hubei, all of Hubei rather, has totally free tourist attractions.
1:37.0	So that's what both of us were doing last week.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.