How My Family and Friends in Wuhan Are Dealing with the Outbreak
Dr Zjhenyu Cheng
I have been keeping close contact with my family and friends in China via WeChat, the Chinese social media app.
The following are their real stories as they told them to me.
My mom has been staying at home since January 23. She has stocks of food that she says would last for a month. She heard from her neighbors that there are fresh vegetables in the supermarket that is a 5-minute walk away. She can go out anytime, but she chooses not to go out these days. We video chat with each other every day. Most of the time, she talks with my children and I will have some updates from her. If she needs to go out, she wears her mask. She will then thoroughly wash her hands when she gets back home. She keeps daily contacts with her siblings in Wuhan by phone call or WeChat.
My friend, with whom I went to junior high almost thirty years ago, is a researcher. He and his wife have one child and their parents from both sides. My friend also offered to help my mom if she needs anything, but my mom is okay and doesn’t want to bother my friend. He is my resource to check some of the updates that I hear from my mom, because I am concerned about my mom not wanting to tell the truth to worry me. It turns out, my mom is telling the truth. There are sufficient food supplies and the prices are more or less normal. His mother-in-law had flu symptoms a few days ago and they were worried about the nCoV infection. It turned out to be non-viral after blood tests in the community hospital. So they are quite relieved and she is recovering at home. My friend is also thinking forward about the issues that will be left to deal with after the emergency is under control.
My niece is 19 years old. She is a first-year undergraduate in an Eastern China city. She went to visit my mom during the Chinese New Year break. She stayed in Wuhan, which is in Central China, with my mom for 10 days and went back to her hometown in Eastern China 2 days before the public transportation was suspended. After arriving at her home, she and her family have taken a 14-day self-quarantine at their home. The local health care officials were following up with their situations daily. They are just past their 14-day mark and everything is fine. But they don’t want to go out either. They try to stay positive about the self-quarantine by saying that they spent the best Chinese New Year by just relaxing and not stuffing themselves like they would usually do during this time of the year.
Another friend of mine, who grew up with me, is trying to keep her daughter’s academic learning progress by registering her in some online courses.
I am so glad that the people who I know are okay. I am sure there are so many other people might be struggling during this difficult time. And the healthcare workers are working under extreme pressure with limited resources.
Let’s all keep positive and believe everything will pass, but hopefully soon. I really appreciate all the help from my friends, especially everyone from the Kelvin family, in order to support all the people in China.
-Dr Zjhenyu Cheng