Year after COVID-19 lockdown, Wuhan dissident remains isolated

A year after its coronavirus lockdown, Wuhan has long since sprung back to life — but Zhu Tao remains bunkered in his 14th-floor apartment, spending his days doomscrolling through news, playing virtual soccer on his PlayStation and feeling that China is teetering on the brink of collapse. He has blown thousands of dollars, his life savings, stockpiling beef jerky and chocolate bars, bottles of water, sacks of rice, masks, alcohol and disinfecting wipes, and a $900 solar panel. Haunting Zhu is the fear that the coronavirus might return — that once again, the government will conceal the truth, and, once again, Wuhan will fall under lockdown.