On February 3, 2020, when the US government ordered the evacuation of the family members of diplomats in China, the wife of US diplomat Zhuang Zuyi flew back to the United States from China.

At that time, only a few confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in the United States. The Trump administration declared that "we have full control of the situation"

Although the U.S. government has acted quickly to close the border to foreign citizens who recently visited China, few measures have been taken to control the spread of the virus in the United States. Extensive testing and contact tracking have barely mentioned the steps that must be taken. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, warned in early February that no emergency funding application was filed, which is “a big error"

Over the next few months, the number of confirmed cases in the United States has grown exponentially. The government agencies lacked effective countermeasures in the early days and faced increasing questions from the media and society.

Zhuang recalled her experience of returning to the United States from China. The CDC staff did nothing but measure their body temperature and ask them if they had been to Hubei Province in the past two weeks. She and her two children waited for two hours in a small space, hundreds of people huddled together, and almost no one wore a mask. The people set off immediately after entering the customs, carrying only a note with the CDC and asking them to notify the CDC when they had a fever.

"Just out of China" and took strict social alienation measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, "We are all a little overwhelmed. But we, like everyone else, believe that COVID-19 will not be a problem in the United States," she said on March 23. Wrote in a social media article of the day.

However, as the epidemic began to affect the United States, Ms. Zhuang saw that the United States lacked detection capabilities, medical supplies, and tracking measures. She recalled the experience of China and the United States in the past two months since the outbreak of COVID-19 "never felt so scared." ".

She wrote in a blog post about returning to the United States from China in early April: "Get out of the frying pan and go to the fire." By then, New York began to be the new epicenter of the world.

The United States currently has the most confirmed cases of new coronaviruses in the world. More and more evidence shows that the Trump administration has been warned for a long time, saying that this epidemic may have devastating effects. However, it took a long time for the government to come up with effective strategies to fight the epidemic-this was repeatedly refuted by the president.

According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon learned about the new coronavirus as early as December, and the US Centers for Disease Control also received an official warning from China in early January. President Trump received a warning about the epidemic in mid-January. A few days ago, the first confirmed case appeared in the United States.

ABC News further questioned this timetable, reporting that US intelligence officials had warned as early as late November that before China discovered the new coronavirus, "it could be a catastrophic event." Despite being denied by government agencies, ABC quoted multiple sources as saying that the issue has been notified to government policymakers on many occasions.

Regardless of whether the November warnings existed, the US government was aware of COVID-19 and its potential impact before the beginning of February. At that time, the lack of sufficient response from US government agencies shocked Zhuang and others returning from China. In China, comprehensive positive measures have been taken to control the epidemic.

To make matters worse, in late March, when the US government decided to suspend travel from continental Europe to the United States, Zhuang saw people going through similar dangerous and chaotic procedures at the airport.

"I saw on television that the Americans were going through everything I experienced. The airport was crowded and disorderly. Although the United States had seen the community spread of COVID-19 at the time, she wrote:" No detection, no masks, no Forced isolation. ".

Despite this, Zhuang showed an optimistic and positive aspect on social media. She strictly abides by the social distance rules and is dealing with the inconvenience caused by the suspension of most businesses.

"I'm much luckier than those who are infected, have lost family members or jobs, can no longer afford rent or pay off loans," said Zhuang, who keeps posting recipes on social media to cheer people on.