The word "coronavirus" has become nearly the scariest term of early 2020. 9692 cases have been registered in a month, and 213 people died. As of January 31, the cases of coronavirus have been reported in 18 countries around the world – not counting China. 18 airlines have reported that they are canceling flights to China.
Apostrophe talked about life in self-isolation with the Chinese Alex Wong, who lives in the city of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province (about 780 km from Wuhan, the epicenter of the infection). The man said that, despite the distance, 80 coronavirus cases were reported in his city, traffic is blocked, officials are daily asking people about their health, and shopping has to be done online.
- Tell me about the situation in your city.
- We have about 80 people infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus, but none of them died. Nearly 90% of people stay at home. It's a holiday season, and the government has called us to stay at home. We had hoped that the holidays would end tomorrow (the conversation was held on January 31 - "Apostrophe"), but the government said they would extend it for two more days. Because if you stay at home, you will not be in contact with other people and you will not be affected by this disease. I think it's the right decision. Everyone's listening to the government.
- Is there anyone among your closest friends, whose relatives were infected with Coronavirus?
- No. We are not very close to Wuhan. But there's something I can say. The virus is becoming very dangerous because of travelers. The government announced that the virus spreads from one person to another on January 20. However, they realized the problem too late. On January 23, Wuhan was closed for entry and exit. If they had closed the city before January 23, everything would have been fine. And now nobody knows how many millions of people have gone through Wuhan during this time. All this happened because of the lack of such information.
- If someone has a high fever, cough, or other symptoms - does it provoke panic among his/her friends and family?
- Government officials are checking every room, every person every day to make sure everyone is safe. If I notice the first symptoms of a cold, I call the officials. They pick me up from home, take me to the hospital and I have to tell them whom I have been in touch with lately. Officials are checking on these people to make sure they're okay. Coronavirus is treated free at the hospital. Of course, the news of new infection among acquaintances causes panic. But the whole country is not in panic.
- I noticed that you were coughing constantly during the conversation. You’re not infected?
- Yes, I cough. But that's because I've been smoking a lot of cigarettes lately. I live with my parents and we haven't left the apartment for two weeks, and so has 90% of the population.
- And if you want to buy food, do you order it over the phone and online?
- Yes, there is a delivery.
- The people who work there - how do they protect themselves from the virus?
- They're delivering to the door now. You don't have to go outside the apartment. The courier just leaves the goods and goes - you can't see him. Well, they all wear masks.
- They say the virus was man-made. That it's some kind of biological weapon, and it came out of the lab by accident. Do people have such an opinion in China?
- I read about it last night. The story started with a video from CCTV China Channel. Two years ago, they made a program about coronavirus being created in a laboratory in Wuhan. When I saw that video, I was shocked - they were saying very clearly, "We created Coronavirus from the swine flu virus". And then I got in touch with a friend who has a Ph.D. in biology. She sent me the documents, and I realized that these viruses are really very similar. But close doesn't mean "the same." Scientifically, they're very similar but completely different. So, I think people watched this video, and that's how the theory about an accidental virus leaking out of the lab came up. But again, "very similar" doesn't mean "the same".
- There is also such a conspiracy theory that says it's not really all that scary and the Chinese government is just blowing panic for some purpose. Do you believe that?
- I don't believe it. There's a market in Wuhan that sells animals, among which are the wild ones. And people are going to Wuhan to buy them. The virus has spread from bats, and we make soup from these animals. And everybody knew about it and researched this way of transmission before the government announced that it was transmitted from person to person. Clearly, there was immediate panic. Before that, we didn't worry about the disease for a whole month! We announced a new coronavirus - so what? Nobody cared! And now the government has realized how dangerous the disease is. Therefore, they blocked traffic, cities, roads and told people: "Don't leave your homes!"