The second they heard "SARS" they didn't need government permission to social distance or wear masks.
My in-laws stayed put and didn't see relatives over CNY. That is madness, imagine trying to cancel Christmas in Europe.
There were rule breakers and people who found lockdown difficult and in those instances the CCP tool kit was more adapted to crushing those types of responses:
Roads leaving Wuhan were literally dug up, the govt had a surveillance network already operational, and non Wuhan people were encouraged/happy to snitch on people who left Wuhan during the lockdown and its run up and get them sent back.
Meanwhile outside of Wuhan, everyone also knew the drill. Before there were even double digit case numbers (detected) in other places, everyone knew to stay in. In policy setting, I'm told a single man is effectively calling the shots wrt the epidemiological response: Zhong Nanshan who is accepted in Asia as being the granddaddy of SARS
This is markedly different from my observations of how it progressed in the "Western" world. It has been surreal to see Italy, France, Spain, UK, US and now possibly NZ + AUS follow similar progressions one by one after each other.
In the UK, most people have been waiting for authority to tell them what to do, but the government themselves are indecisive and keep trying to place their faith in "evidence based" science - common sense be damned. Having watched this all play out being right but late is almost useless and this debate over mask usage is ridiculous.
Meanwhile the NHS is covered in so much red tape that PPE and testing can't reach the frontline staff even when companies are trying to put them in their hands.