The Chinese state newspaper People's Daily uploaded a disinfection video in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic that has spread around the world.
The clip is apocalyptic: workers drive giant cars along empty streets, spraying huge clouds of disinfectant spray. Rows of trucks descend along large avenues, filling the air with a great white mist. "It's not clear to me," writes one of the commentators to the tweet, "if it kills more the disease or the cure".
Another video of the state newspaper Global Times shows similar activity: even a modified rickshaw with a disinfectant cannon mounted on the carriage.
Coronavirus, what are the Chinese sprinkling on the streets?
I still have no idea what exactly the authorities in Wuhan are spraying. A business insider report suggests that the material may be a low concentration bleach and water solution.
The news comes after several draconian decisions by the Chinese, which have already quarantined several cities, blocking about 50 million residents.
The number of infections increases, more than 40.000 cases are now reported (the figure is approaching with chilling accuracy to the estimate of the University of Hong Kong published in the Lancet days and days ago).
The death toll, over 1000, exceeds those of the previous SARS crisis, while the WHO denounces that the figures could be just "the tip of the iceberg".
Different approaches
The citywide sterilization campaign is aimed at preventing the coronavirus from spreading overhead. However, some experts have argued that cleaning surfaces in hospitals and markets is a more useful approach.
