In China, the coronavirus issue has shocked you altogether. How have you lived it?

Here I don't know exactly when the coronavirus issue started, but in the last fortnight of January the government declared a state of emergency. He took me on vacation in Thailand and from there I returned home, Llodio. I think I was lucky.

Then I returned to China at the end of February, made fourteen days of isolation and returned to work.

In the meantime, I was talking to my colleagues to see how the situation was.

What is the situation at the moment?

The situation is now almost normal. I started working ten days ago and what I see is that prevention is still on the street (masks, they measure the temperature to enter the urbanization…).

In my neighborhood, for example, people have started to make normal lives, many businesses are open and public transport is back on track. As for the school, here in March they started offering online classes, and I think that the third week of April they will start doing face-to-face.

Most of the risk in Shanghai in the coming months is in people coming from outside. Before coming down from the aircraft, for example, all passengers are subject to controls and must wait for the results within the aircraft.

With a positive, everyone is admitted to a special center for isolation and control.

If there is no positive, they go home or to their hotel, but they have to do a forced isolation of fourteen days.

In general, all people entering Shanghai have to do controls and comply with isolation. The government controls everything.

Neighbourhood committees were set up and all the data were collected. No one is uncontrolled. They're very strict about this, they don't want the virus to come back.

What measures have been put in place in China to deal with the coronavirus and how have you experienced it?

While I was at Laudio, I was in touch with people here and they told me how the situation was going. Here, once a state of emergency was decreed, all people were ordered to stay in their homes.

All public transport, the whole industry, trade, were paralysed, but with total prevention, the basic needs and some of the few industries that generate them were still open.

The Shanghai Government disinfected the streets and all the places and some volunteers, with special clothing, closed all the strategic entrances of the city. All this was done with the cooperation of the police.

Do you believe that the measures implemented by China have been correct? Could they be applied in Europe or in the Spanish state?

They say their results have been OK. In this city, for example, almost 400 people have been infected, always bearing in mind that it is the “numbers” that the government has said.

With all the people there, this is an awesome piece of data. It is also true that culture and society here have in mind another virus that it suffered ten years ago and that this has contributed to the mentality of citizenship.

However, we have all seen videos in which some situations are criticizable. On the other hand, here the priority has been the health of people.

In Europe and in the Spanish State, on the contrary, the measures have been gradually taking place. Today, in many situations, the importance of the economy continues to prevail more than the health of people.

In my opinion, it is not appropriate for many people to be isolated at home and for industry to go ahead, with the risk that this poses for many people. For me, health is the first thing.

As data, at the end of February and the beginning of March they have begun to open the factories here, but all of them with the prevention measures established by the government, otherwise they could not open them. The health of workers was very important.

It is also true that, politically and culturally, Europe and China have great differences and it would be very difficult to implement here the strict measures that they have imposed since day one.

Chinese doctors who have been in Italy strongly criticised the measures taken in the centre of the Italian capital. What do you think of the coronavirus response in Europe and the Spanish State?

In view of what has happened in China, it has been surprising that no action is taken in Europe. Then, looking closely at the situation in Italy, I was also surprised that the Spanish State has gone too late in implementing the measures.

I think they have to be stricter and think about people's health. You have to stop it all for a while, even if it's economically bad.

It's best to stop everything for a month and let everyone be home less than three months away to control the virus.

The people also have their responsibility. People who go out in the street once or twice a day harm others. Many have yet to understand what it's like to be at home.

Here too, when my colleagues see news about Europe (people on the street, on the beach, in factories, shopping every day...), they are amazed. That is why Chinese doctors in Italy have made harsh criticisms.

I would like to appeal to people to be more mindful, to care for oneself, for the people, for the neighborhood and for all people.

Today, a lot of people are doing a great job for the good of everyone, and we have to help them stay home. Nature is also breathing for our benefit and I am sure that in a short period of time we will be living again normally.