Culture | Covid-19 in China

Two brave books tell the story of lockdown in Wuhan

They are a vital counterpoint to the Chinese government’s official narrative

WUHAN, CHINA - APRIL 14, 2020 - Ambulances carrying the last batch of patients leave leishenshan hospital and transfer to other hospitals, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, April 14, 2020. Tomorrow, leishenshan hospital will be closed for standby.- (Photo credit should read Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images) — Image: Getty Images

Mar 9th 2023

China’s new mantra is unequivocal. The country has won a “major and decisive victory” over covid-19. The outgoing prime minister, Li Keqiang, repeated this phrase on March 5th in a speech at the opening of the annual session of China’s parliament. He cautioned the nearly 3,000 masked delegates that the pandemic was not over, but he did not suggest the virus needed to be crushed, a feat that China spent nearly three years battling to achieve, until late in 2022. The Communist Party wants to move on from—and wants citizens to forget—the trauma of deaths and lockdowns.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “How it was done in Wuhan”