'We will always be with the people' in Wuhan

As more doubts spread over the internet, and various photos and conversations make it hard to distinguish real or fake viral information on WeChat, I decided to visit the hospitals and find out what was really going on.

On Jan 20, I arrived at the fever clinic of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University without any protective wear, misguided by the information of "no sustained human-to-human transmission".

Two young nurses were talking and laughing as they set up a desk for measuring body temperatures at the gate.

Entering the fever clinic, I saw about 40 patients－all wearing face masks. Although the crowd was larger than usual, they all waited in line quietly. The medical workers were wearing protective clothing and masks. There were also two policemen in the clinic room.

I could feel something different under the calm surface.

When I went back home, I wrote a story about the prevention and control measures related to the epidemic being upgraded in Wuhan, with a picture of the medical staff.

On the evening of Jan 22, three days before the Chinese Spring Festival, all kinds of news and gossip had widely spread, occupying people's minds.

Sitting at home and seeing my cell phone bombarded by messages, I had a hunch that the control measures would be further upgraded.

At 2:31 am, the city announced a lockdown. At 9 am, I walked out onto the street and was amazed at what I saw.

I walked through the major intersection, which had always been busy with cars and pedestrians waiting to go across, and strolled along the popular Happy Avenue that leads to the high-speed rail station.

The bustling metropolis had become unbelievably quiet and seemed like an empty city.

I tried to calm down and visited two neighborhood supermarkets－a large one and a peddlers' market－and a pharmacy.

The lockdown did spur panic buying, with food and vegetables selling out at the stores. Masks were still out of stock, along with cold medicine and vitamin C.

Then I went home, turned on my computer, and welcomed a special Spring Festival－working against the clock, covering stories about the fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.

The city's epidemic command center issued five notices that day and three the next day, including the lockdown of the city; a guarantee of material supplies; channels accepting donations; the suspension of taxi and online car-hailing services; and plans to build an emergency field hospital like Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing, which was constructed in 2003 in just seven days to treat SARS patients.

On the night of Jan 24, the eve of the Spring Festival when families generally reunite, the construction of a makeshift hospital (later named Huoshenshan, or "Fire God Mountain") began, with tens of millions of people around the country observing the project through a livestreaming broadcast.

Also that night, people were moved by photos and videos being posted of medical staff from the People's Liberation Army headed to support Wuhan.

It is the army that is always bound to appear at critical moments and the army that people trust in.

On the evening of Jan 29, I came back late. When I sent materials to an online working group, it was nearly 1 am the next day. But my colleagues responded immediately.

The working group had not rested since we started the special report on the NCP epidemic－collecting information, selecting topics, submitting and revising manuscripts.

Whether it was colleagues at the headquarters in Beijing and other bureaus, or the two groups of frontline reporters sent to Wuhan, they seemed to always be online.

On Feb 3, we were asked to start collecting information on people in need of hospital treatment in Hubei province, including confirmed patients, highly suspected cases and patients with fever from unidentified reasons.

Within one day, I answered nearly 70 calls and heard different stories from a daughter in another province who was worried about her infected parents; a young man who shoulders the responsibility of taking care of his infected parents and younger brother; and many others.

Hearing people telling me what they were experiencing in different voices and tones, I felt the pain of our city. As one video goes, "My city is sick. Wuhan, we're waiting for you to get better!"

After I sent the list to the relative department, a patient told me she was finally hospitalized. I cried upon hearing that news.

In the fight against the epidemic, we journalists are trying to do more for people.

We will always be with the people.