A scene from the drama 24 Hours highlights rescue efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tianjin. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
An anti-epidemic drama called 24 Hours by the Tianjin Northern Performing Group premiered in Tianjin early this month and inspired local residents to further combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The drama records the swift action taken by the city to deal with fever cases onboard the Costa Serena, an international cruise ship carrying 4,000 people, which returned to Tianjin on Jan 25, after traveling to Fukuoka and Sasebo, Japan.
Director Zhong Hai says that since April, the performers have polished and enriched the story by interviewing the members of staff who were there.
"This drama has been created to honor the anti-epidemic achievements by the people of the whole country, who were united by their arduous efforts," he says.
The stage vividly recreates the approaching cruise ship, and the story includes the temperature screenings of all the travelers and the transportation of medical samples of 17 fever cases via helicopter. The results are all negative, after nucleic acid tests that were implemented within 24 hours.
The cruise liner was reported to have 148 passengers from Hubei province, China's hardest-hit area.
After the checks, passengers from Hubei were sent to a centralized quarantine facility, and others were allowed to leave.
After 14 days of quarantine, with free medical assistance, accommodation, food service and stringent health checks, the Hubei passengers were cleared.
"The rescue and emergency response efforts on Costa Serena are in sharp contrast with some other cruise liners, including the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess," says Zheng Weihang, vice-president and executive general secretary of the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association.
The Diamond Princess was ordered to let its 3,711 passengers stay aboard the cruise ship for two weeks after it returned to Yokohama, Japan, on Feb 3. Nearly 700 passengers aboard were confirmed to have the virus, and 13 died by the end of May, according to the NHK, a Japanese news agency.
A key moment in the play shows a helicopter taking samples for nucleic acid testing from a ship to the city. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Niu Rong, a Wuhan resident who joined the quarantine with her daughter on the Costa Serena, says:"When reading the Diamond Princess news a few days later, we really appreciated the speed of the cooperation between Costa and Tianjin local authorities."
Lu Guoqi, an actor who plays a doctor in the drama, says: "I have done the role of a doctor many times in different dramas. However, in this drama, I felt the enormous strength and responsibility as a doctor."
He had rehearsed the drama in the past few months, he says. "I constantly thought what we should do, as an artist, to make a contribution to the battle with the virus. With other artists we voluntarily joined some initiatives, to recite poems to doctors working at the front lines ... that's part of our efforts that we really want to contribute to those tired and courageous doctors."
Wu Qi, the head of the COVID-19 rescue team in Tianjin and chief expert at the Haihe Hospital, the pinpointed COVID-19 treatment hospital, says, after watching the drama: "The rescue efforts of Costa Serena could be considered as an example during the pandemic for the world."
Zhang Boli, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, says: "The drama makes me go back to the hardest moment when the pandemic was in its peak in China and it's an epitome of the hardest time."
The drama is expected to be performed on stages around China in a bid to give strength and confidence for local people along with the ongoing campaign to fight against the virus.
Director Zhong notes the drama has the fusion of realism and romanticism and utilizes transparent LED mesh video-wall, which enables the background wall to display pictures rapidly, to showcase the scenes from the luxurious performance inside the cruise liner, the nucleic acid tests, the news conference, and the helicopter taking the samples, just to name a few.
