Dr. Zhong Nanshan has long been a household name in China. But over the past three months, he's become the face of China's virus containment efforts, cutting through public confusion and online disinformation.
Dr. Zhong Nanshan has become the public face of COVID-19 containment efforts. Above, he speaks at a press conference on February 27.Chen Jimin/China News Service via Getty Images
In China,"there is a lot of a sense of mistrust and in everything, just a kind of societal desperation," saidSimilar scientific figureheads have emerged in other countries now battling their own outbreaks of COVID-19. In Germany, virologist Dr. Zhong also draws comparisons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a prominent adviser to the federal government on its COVID-19 containment efforts. Like Fauci, Zhong, who is a former track and field star, is a fitness buff – and is is widely seen as a reliable source of information in contrast to the some government figures.
Instead, it was Zhong Nanshan who channeled public grief when he openly mourned Li's death in a taped interview with Reuters.said Zhong, choking back tears,"I'm so proud of him, he told the truth, back in December." Since 2003, Zhong has been lionized in numerous state-directed documentaries and profiles. Snippets of his strenuous workouts — a minimum of 45 minutes daily of weight training and cardio — have gone viral."His good revolutionary capital is a result of many years of continued physical training," a 2008 documentary produced by China's state broadcaster proclaimed.
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