Control of virus allows revellers to enjoy music festival in China

Thousands of people were able to attend a music festival in Wuhan, China, thanks to measures in place to control COVID-19, experts said during a World Health Organization media briefing on Monday.

Earlier this month, the Wuhan Strawberry Music Festival took place, welcoming thousands of revellers in a city that had faced some of the strictest lockdown restrictions when the novel coronavirus hit last year.

"I think Wuhan and most of China are enjoying the benefits of having controlled the virus effectively," said Michael Ryan, who is the executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program.

"The vaccination rates in Wuhan are probably no higher than anywhere else in China and certainly vaccination doesn't account for the situation they currently experience. Wuhan in particular suffered hugely in the first parts of this pandemic and made huge sacrifices," he said.

Ryan noted that the city has "brought the pandemic under control and importantly has kept the disease under control".

Some music fans wore masks at the festival, but many didn't and Ryan said this was not unusual in areas with a low number of cases.

"You see the same in Australia, in New Zealand, you see the same in many countries who took a comprehensive approach which focused on continued reduction of exposure… and that ability to reduce exposure to a level where the incidents of disease dropped to very low levels allows countries, cities and areas with that degree of control over the virus to have more choices about social life and economic life and I think those choices are now being exerted," he said.

Ryan said China, and other countries that have had a low number of incidents, have remained vigilant and are "constantly on the lookout for that single case, cluster and they react when they see those clusters in order to maintain that level of control".

Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist with the WHO, said: "What we see in Wuhan and what we see in other parts around the world are demonstration of how this comprehensive approach works in controlling COVID-19 ... We see Wuhan and other parts of the world really use this comprehensive approach of public health, identifying cases, providing care for those who are infected in isolation facilities … as well as isolating those who had mild disease or who were asymptomatic outside the home in special facilities built."