China state papers back Wuhan park after viral pool party

Chinese state newspapers threw their support behind an amusement park in the central city of Wuhan on Thursday after pictures of a densely packed pool party at the park went viral overseas amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

Videos and photos of an electronic music festival at the Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park on July 11 raised eyebrows overseas, but reflected life returning to normal in the city where the virus causing COVID-19 was first detected, the official English-language China Daily newspaper said in a front-page story.

Another story in the Global Times, a tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily, cited Wuhan residents as saying the pool party reflected the city’s success in its virus-control efforts.

While the coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, strict lockdown measures that paralysed the Chinese economy earlier this year have kept its spread in check.

China on Thursday reported its fourth straight day of zero locally transmitted coronavirus infections.

The stories come after a World Health Organization epidemiologist warned earlier this week that people, especially the young, are not invincible to the pandemic, despite their wishes to live normal lives.

More than 22.27 million people have been reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 781,162? have died, according to a Reuters tally.