key: cord-0041252-nei42gox
authors: Chen, Liding; Yuan, Xingzhong
title: China’s ongoing battle against the coronavirus: Why did the lockdown strategy work well?
date: 2020-04-15
journal: Socio Ecol Pract Res
DOI: 10.1007/s42532-020-00048-1
sha: 28ebb2233b01f6bfffee68c470ca835499d543d3
doc_id: 41252
cord_uid: nei42gox

“Why did the lockdown strategy work well in China’s ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic?”is one of the three questions the journal editor Wei-Ning Xiang asked us to respond to from our experiences in the past several months since December 2019. At this critical juncture when the people in China are progressing on the battleground, we dedicate this communication essay to all the people fighting against the pandemic around the world.

In China's ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic, an effective strategy is to lock down cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, and homes. As ecologists, Professors Chen and Yuan, how would you explain why such a strictly implemented strategy worked so well?

A question from SEPR editor Wei-Ning Xiang 1

As ecologists, we view cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, and homes as connected nodes on a socio-ecological network. A socio-ecological network consists of intertwined human-centric networks (e.g., a railway network, a public transit system, an air route network) and natural networks (e.g., a river, a conservation corridor, a bird migration route). While operating to primarily serve human needs, these component networks also benefit (or obstruct) other beings, including germs that are detrimental to human health. The coronavirus is only a most recent "beneficiary" of this kind. As such, the essence of the lockdown strategy is to lock down all the nodes on a socio-ecological network, preventing this deadly virus from transmitting from node to node. When strictly implemented, the strategy should work theoretically; in practice, it did work well in China this time.

Below are further elaborations.

An ecological network is traditionally defined as a natural or human-built system of connected habitats for biological conservation in cities, towns, and countryside. The links and nodes (i.e., corridors and habitats) of an ecological network operate coherently to provide the target species a fitting environment for survival, reproduction, and flourishing. As cities, towns, and even countryside become more urbanized, ecological networks in the traditional sense are increasingly intertwined with human-centric networksbiological, cultural, digital, economic, political, social, and technological-that operate to serve human needs. Together, they form an emergent socio-ecological network whose component networks interact with each other to serve primarily human needs as well as the needs of other beings (e.g., the target species).

Unfortunately, these "other beings" that benefit from a socioecological network also include those germs that are pernicious to human health. The coronavirus is but a most recent "target species" of this kind. In the past several months since December 2019, it first violently attacked Wuhan, the populous unban center in central China; through an extensive citywide socio-ecological network, it readily ignited a devastating outbreak among the 11 million unprepared people throughout the Three Towns of Wuhan; later via a widespread countrywide socio-ecological network on which Wuhan is a hub, it extended the pernicious assault comfortably to other parts of the country, causing a deadly pandemic among the 1.4 billion people (Fig. 1 ). 2

From this daunting reality, practitioners in China learnt the hard way about the critical role socio-ecological networks played in the coronavirus pandemic. They wasted no time and expeditiously took a series of effective measures to combat. From a socio-ecological network perspective, underlying these measures is a node lockdown strategy that locks down nodes on socio-ecological networks across all spatial scales-from the country down to cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, and homes. 3 Methodically implemented, the strategy worked and worked well (Fig. 2) . 4

Professors Chen and Yuan, how would you describe a typical work-at-home day during your voluntary home self-isolation? 5 A question from SEPR editor Wei-Ning Xiang

I (author Liding Chen) usually get up at 6:00 am, check the news about the coronavirus pandemic before breakfast. In the morning, I do academic work-checking e-mails, reading, and editing student papers, reviewing manuscripts for journals, and discussing research projects with students and colleagues via the Internet. After lunch, I take a 1-hour tea break. In the afternoon, I practice one-hour Chinese calligraphy ( Fig. 3 ) before dinner at 6:00 pm. After dinner, I watch TV news and read leisure books, while enjoying my favorite foot massage with the massage machine (Fig. 3) . I go to bed at 11:00 pm.

Typically, I (author Xingzhong Yuan) get up at 7:30 am, exercise for half an hour in the garden on the roof (Fig. 4) . In the morning, I read books and articles and write. In the afternoon, besides reading and writing, I discuss research projects and scholarly writing via the Internet with my students and colleagues. After dinner, I meditate for an hour in the garden (Fig. 5) , then read and write, and sometimes watch movies before going to bed around 11:30 pm.

Reflecting on China's ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic thus far, Professors Chen and Yuan, what new insights did you find that illuminate socioecological practice and research? A question from SEPR editor Wei-Ning Xiang

The coronavirus is malignant and detrimental to human health, but it might well be benign and even beneficial to some other beings in a natural ecosystem. This reminds us that the relation between human health and natural ecosystem health is much more complex than we understand. As such, we should be more mindful and prudent in advocating and pursuing such honorable ideals as One Health, EcoHealth, or integrative health in socio-ecological practice and research ( Fig. 6 ; for a recent review of these ideals, see Assmuth et al. 2019) . Liding Chen is a research professor in the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. He is the vice president of both the Ecological Society of China and the International Association of Landscape Ecology. His research interests include landscape pattern and ecological processes, landscape management, and sustainable development. Fig. 6 A fusion of human health and natural ecosystem health (A noble ideal that we should strive to achieve in socio-ecological practice and research with great mindfulness) Xingzhong Yuan is a professor and doctoral advisor in the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China. He is a member of the National Wetland Science and Technology Committee of China, and the vice president of Chongqing Ecological Society. He specializes in the practice and research of ecosystem design, landscape planning, and ecological restoration.

Integrative concepts and practices of health in transdisciplinary social ecology. Socio-Ecological Practice Research

China's coronavirus lockdown strategy: brutal but effective. The Guardian

China's ongoing battle against the coronavirus: a scholarpractitioner's experiences and reflections. Socio-Ecological Practice Research

Acknowledgements We thank the following individuals who assisted the preparation of this essay (in alphabetic order): Yongcai Jing (Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China) who helped prepare Fig. 1 , and Yangjing Liu (Ecological Research Institute of ChongqingQianzhou, Chongqing, China) who helped prepare Fig. 6 .