Containment has moved from counter-attack to stalemate, which is no signal of safety

On 3 March 2020 the Guangzhou Daily account on Weibo carried a news item under the heading "Two villagers in Huangshi played cards while feverish and infected several others; the village party secretary knew and did not report it, and let them carry on".

The report said that between 21 and 23 February four people in Laowu village were confirmed one after another as having COVID-19. Tracing back through the four new cases showed that all four had developed a cough, fever and other symptoms before the diagnosis and had frequently been in and out of the Taogang township health centre in Yangxin county and other places. Two of them, Pan and Wang, ignored the containment rules and went back and forth to the health centre and to shops for medical treatment and shopping between 5 and 16 February. After developing fever and a cough, Pan deliberately concealed his condition while carrying on both his business and his amusements, gathering villagers to shop, play cards and fish. Many of the villagers took few precautions and wore no masks. Since 21 February Pan's father and son, and his wife and daughter, have been confirmed as cases one after another. Seven people in Laowu village have now been confirmed.

The village's former party branch secretary and village committee director, Wang, knew that these people had chest tightness and a cough, yet not only failed to take the measures required by the containment instructions but issued village checkpoint passes in breach of the rules and let them through. She then left the four to their own devices without any follow-up, neglected her duties and seriously breached the containment instructions, causing a serious impact on the containment effort. She has since been removed from her post in the party and lawfully recalled from that of village committee director.

In this case Pan and Wang deliberately concealed their illness after developing fever and a cough, as a result of which several family members and card partners were infected. Conduct of that kind is highly harmful to society. Under the Opinions on Lawfully Punishing Criminal Offences that Obstruct the Prevention and Control of the COVID-19 Epidemic, issued on 6 February 2020 by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice, a person who refuses to comply with the control measures put forward by a health and epidemic prevention body under the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, and thereby causes the virus to spread or creates a serious danger of such spread, is convicted and punished for the offence of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases under Article 330 of the Criminal Law.

The former party branch secretary and village committee director, Wang, seriously breached the containment instructions and caused a serious impact on the containment effort, and should likewise be convicted and punished for that offence.

Article 330 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, on the offence of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases, provides that a person who, in breach of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, does any of the following and thereby causes the spread of a Category A infectious disease or creates a serious danger of such spread is liable to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and where the consequences are especially serious, to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years:

(1) a water supply unit supplies drinking water that does not meet the health standards set by the state;

(2) a person refuses to disinfect sewage, waste and excrement contaminated by pathogens of an infectious disease in accordance with the health requirements put forward by a health and epidemic prevention body;

(3) a person permits or connives at a patient with an infectious disease, a pathogen carrier or a suspected patient engaging in work that the health administration department of the State Council has prohibited because it is liable to spread the disease;

(4) a person refuses to implement the preventive and control measures put forward by a health and epidemic prevention body under the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases. Where a unit commits an offence under the preceding paragraph, the unit is fined and the persons directly in charge and other persons directly responsible are punished in accordance with that paragraph. The scope of Category A infectious diseases is determined under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and the relevant provisions of the State Council.

The same Opinions also make clear that where a person suspected of COVID-19 refuses isolation and treatment, or leaves isolation and treatment without permission before the isolation period has run, and enters a public place or public transport, thereby causing the virus to spread, that person may be guilty of the offence of endangering public safety by dangerous means.

All concerned should therefore play their part in the collective effort, rather than deliberately concealing illness or knowingly breaking the law. Pan, Wang and the former village secretary were plainly at fault in this case, but the other villagers who gathered to play cards and amuse themselves were also in the wrong. A moment of slackness harmed others as well as themselves.

Containment in many places has moved from a counter-attack to a stalemate, but that is no signal that things are safe. This is the moment to be more alert than ever and to protect oneself: wear a mask when going out, wash hands often, do not gather or hold parties, do not crowd into places where people are concentrated, and take other sensible precautions. Everyone should hold themselves strictly to the containment rules, so that the national effort can end in a full victory.