In January, Wuhan was a ghost town. On Thursday night, it was filled with ghouls, monsters and such. Wuhan, the Chinese city of 11 million people where COVID-19 emerged last year, was the site of a humungous Halloween party Thursday night at the Happy Valley amusement park.
Now Wuhan wears masks. The home to the first human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus was void of social distancing, as China bounces back with COVID-19 far more under control than in the rest of the world. China reported only 47 new cases Thursday, with most of those coming from abroad.
But the images of a parade and costumes, including several revelers dressed as healthcare workers, were unsettling for many across the world in light of the coronavirus death toll hitting 1.18 million, with more than 229,000 of those deaths occurring in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Halloween is not even a traditional Chinese holiday. Meanwhile, Halloween events and traditions across the U.S. are being scrapped out of caution because of our nationwide spike in coronavirus cases.
Thursday set another American record for most COVID-19 cases in a day, with 90,456, shattering the previous day’s mark of 80,662 new cases.
Thursday’s party was evidence of how life is returning to normal in Wuhan, the site of the first lockdown in January. The Chinese government claims there has not been a new case of transmission of COVID-19 in the Wuhan since May.
The same host had an August event at its water park and drew worldwide criticism. It defended the event as a return to normalcy for Wuhan.
If only the rest of the world had that option.
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