Emergency public health response from the perspective of social resilience: case of community initiatives in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, China

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Abstract
In 2020, the world has encountered the public health crisis with the largest number of people affected in this century. By 0:00 GMT on May 15, 2020, there are 10 countries with more than 100000 people confirmed infected, and there are 84469 confirmed cases in China and 68134 confirmed cases in Hubei Province, where the COVID-19 was initially found, and the restrictions are still in force till now. Xiangyang city, which is the second largest city in Hubei, is only 260 kilometers away from the original discovery city of COVID-19, Wuhan. Meanwhile, when the outbreak started at the time of the Chinese new year, a large number of residents returned to Xiangyang unconscious of the disease, which to some extent caused the gathering of high-risk people. Based on the theoretical framework of community resilience, this paper analyzes the corresponding work of COVID-19 from the end of 2019 to May 15, 2020, and explores the effective measures of epidemic prevention under the background of powerful administration control. Resilience is a collection of a series of abilities, including stability, self-recovery and adaptability. The collection runs through three periods: pre-disaster, inner-disaster and post-disaster, shown as the whole process of prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and reconstruction. Community resilience belongs to social resilience system in face of disasters on the scale of community. Its characteristics mainly include: (1) the basic unit of people gathering with daily life as the main purpose; (2) administration, autonomous organization or NGO; (3) the basic education, medical treatment, necessities markets, cultural and entertainment needs, small public communication space and other basic functions. Based on the framework of community resilience and the author's living experience in the Hubei, the epidemic prevention process in Xiangyang City could be divided into four periods: unconscious period, public awareness period, emergency response period and post response period. Unconscious period started from December 2019, when unexamined virus was firstly reported by the authorized media, to around January 10, 2020. During this period the public health challenges to be faced did not cause a group response, communities of Xiangyang maintained their own daily routines, supermarkets, schools and hospitals were operating as usual. The public awareness period was from January 10 to January 24, till the time Xiangyang City was under traffic control. During this period, the main body of public opinion gradually changed from folk communication to official active concern, with some residents staying at home voluntarily and storing necessities in case of emergency. The emergency response period started from the closure of Xiangyang City, and ends around March 15, when the restrictions on buses, supermarkets and access to the city are released. During this period, the city has taken the most severe community control measures, all the neighbourhood were closed, public facilities except hospitals and large purchasers are out of operation. From March 16 to May 15, and may last for a long time, is the response post response period. During this period, the community takes mild restrictions and investigation measures, continues to follow up the patients and their contacts, and gradually opens public places, but takes a cautious attitude towards large-scale gathering places. This study can be used for reference for local governments' response in the field of community resilience in public health. It sorts out different roles played by the government, enterprises and the public in response to emergencies, so as to prepare for the uncertainty of COVID-19 spreading in the future.
Abstract ID :
ISO354
Submission Type
Submission Track
4: Safeguarding the Urban Resilience
Nanjing University
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