Beijing (AFP)

By confining an entire city of 11 million inhabitants to fight against a mysterious virus, China radically changes its attitude to the SARS crisis almost twenty years ago, when it was accused of having delayed raising the alarm and attempted to cover up the magnitude of the situation.

On the eve of the Chinese New Year holidays, no plane or train was supposed to leave Wuhan (center) on Thursday, at the heart of the epidemic which since December has infected more than 500 people and left 17 dead. All those who died died in Wuhan or its region.

Like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), this new disease which has arisen in China is transmitted between humans and belongs to the family of coronaviruses.

But Beijing changed its attitude compared to the epidemic of 2002-2003 (774 dead in the world including 349 in mainland China and 299 in Hong Kong) which had won criticism from the World Health Organization (WHO) .

At the time of SARS, the Chinese authorities took months to report the disease and initially prevented access by WHO experts to the southern province of Guangdong where it had appeared.

Beijing, aware that its attitude will be compared with that of the time, seems determined not to repeat its mistakes of 2003.

- In the era of social networks -

The state media themselves recognize that in the age of social media "government agencies cannot hide information even if they wish to".

Renowned scientist member of the National Health Commission who helped assess the scale of the SARS epidemic, said Zhong Nanshan, "the whole country has increased its vigilance," state television reported on Monday. . "The SARS epidemic of 17 years ago is not going to repeat itself," he added.

The new virus has already spread to other countries - the United States, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan.

But the Chinese government has released regular updates on information about the virus since it first appeared in December.

In 2003, it was exactly the opposite: SARS appeared in November 2002 but Beijing had waited until the following February to recognize the disease, minimizing it and ensuring that it was "under control". By June 2003, the virus had killed more than 300 people in China, with more than 5,329 other cases.

Under pressure from WHO to report all the cases, the Chinese authorities also prohibited the organization's experts from accessing military hospitals in Beijing.

In contrast, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday welcomed the "very, very strong" measures taken this time by China, saying that they would "reduce" the risks of spreading beyond its borders.

He was speaking at a meeting of the WHO emergency committee which is due to resume on Thursday to decide whether the new virus constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern".

In Washington, an official of the State Department underlined on condition of anonymity the "encouraging signs which show that the Chinese government has understood the gravity of this problem". But he added, "We remain concerned about the transparency of the Chinese government."

- Social stability and public health -

The priority given to social stability over public health may have hindered a faster initial response to the virus in Wuhan, said Dali Yang, professor of political science at the University of Chicago.

In early January, during the annual meeting of authorities in Wuhan, the local government wanted to "show an atmosphere of stability and calm in the region," he told AFP.

The mayor of Wuhan was criticized for organizing a banquet on Saturday to which 40,000 families were invited. That was before official confirmation Monday of a human-to-human transmission, he told CCTV on Tuesday.

And the number of cases reported by China differs from estimates by foreign researchers. Scientists at Imperial College London on Wednesday estimated that 4,000 people were infected, far more than the 500 or so cases officially reported.

© 2020 AFP