The definitive account of the Chinese government's response to the initial Covid-19 outbreak in
Wuhan . The Covid-19 pandemic which began as an outbreak in Wuhan in late 2019 has claimed
millions of lives and caused unprecedented disruptions. Despite its generation-defining
significance there has been a surprising lack of independent research examining the decisions
and measures implemented in the weeks leading up to the Wuhan lockdown as well as the missteps
and shortcomings that allowed the novel coronavirus to spread with minimal hindrance. In
Wuhan: How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control Dali L. Yang scrutinizes
China's emergency response to the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan delving into the government's
handling of epidemic information and the decisions that influenced the scale and scope of the
outbreak. Yang's research reveals that China's health decision-makers and experts had an
excellent head start when they implemented a health emergency action program to respond to the
outbreak at the end of December 2019. With granular detail and compelling immediacy Yang
investigates the political and bureaucratic processes that hindered information flows and
sharing as well as the cognitive framework that limited understanding of the virus's
contagiousness and hampered effective decisions. Yang's research uncovers that urgent warnings
from sources outside Wuhan helped shift the Chinese health leadership's focus towards epidemic
control. Once this shift occurred China's party-state mobilized resources and enforced a
lockdown in Wuhan. This lockdown was divided into two phases: providing additional medical
resources and enforcing community-level lockdowns and home confinement. The 76-day lockdown
contained the virus within China's borders but the leadership and public later faced the
challenge of reopening China in a world still grappling with SARS-CoV-2. Wuhan: How the
COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control also critiques the Chinese authorities for
prioritizing dominance and control in their response to the Wuhan outbreak. This preoccupation
led to the suppression distortion and neglect of crucial disease information fostering an
atmosphere of organized silence. The punishment of whistleblowers and the banning of the
immediate release of research findings on the novel coronavirus further contributed to this
silencing. Yang emphasizes the importance of retaining public trust during a pandemic and
underscores the need for transparency openness to new information and direct communication of
risk with the public.
