BEIJING | China on Thursday defended the organization of a mega-techno party in a crowded water park in Wuhan, epicenter of COVID-19, hailing a “victory” against the coronavirus after the viral dissemination of images of the event on the internet .
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AFP photos and videos showing hundreds of swimmers in swimsuits, dancing side by side to electronic music and without a mask, were widely shared on social media.
China is the first country to have identified cases of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 in Wuhan (center). But the epidemic has since been contained in the country, thanks to strict containments, the widespread wearing of masks and the follow-up of contacts.
No death is thus to be deplored since mid-May.
The images of the Maya Beach water park, taken last weekend, however, aroused the incomprehension or the astonishment of some internet users in Europe or the United States, where the coronavirus continues to claim many victims.
The AFP video has racked up more than 16 million views since its release.
This show in the water park “shows that Wuhan has won a strategic victory in its fight against the epidemic,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Thursday in response to a question.
“I saw the AFP article. Apparently, Europeans and Americans were very surprised “when they saw these images, he said during a regular press briefing, saying he hoped that the foreign media” reported the real situation “in China.
Wuhan was cut off from the world for 76 days between January and April. But the vast majority of the 11 million inhabitants have been tested in a massive screening campaign and have gradually returned to normal life.
Many water parks and swimming pools have already reopened across China.