Cape Town – The once-busy city of Wuhan in China has been described as a ghost town by a Wynberg family living in the town, which remains on lockdown following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Winslow Forbes has been teaching in Wuhan since last year and lives there with his wife and two children.
He said after reports emerged of a mysterious virus, they were slightly cautious and didn’t allow their son to go back to school after the Christmas holiday.
“There’s an eerie calmness in our area. This is a bustling city of 11 million people and it’s turned into a ghost town overnight.
"We live in a high-rise complex and we don’t see or hear our neighbours. Shops in our community are shut. People are afraid,” he said.
He added that he was concerned for his family’s well-being.
“Things have changed drastically in just one week. Wuhan being in quarantine means that all public transportation like buses, subways, tram and taxi services have stopped operating. The airport shut down a week ago.
“This poses a problem, especially as many expats here do not own cars because you need to be proficient in Mandarin before passing the driver’s test. Our main means of travel is via public transport.”
Forbes said getting supplies on a day-to-day basis can be problematic if a shop isn’t within walking distance and there was a risk of supplies running low.
“According to experts, the virus can incubate in a person for up to 14 days before that person shows any symptoms.
“During that time, they can infect others. We are concerned about our children. We stay indoors and only venture out for supplies when necessary. This is a contagious virus for which a cure has not yet been discovered.
“More and more people are being infected daily in Wuhan,” he said.
Forbes said other countries had plans to remove their citizens from Wuhan. “We would like to think that our government will assist us with an evacuation plan as well. They need to reassure the families stuck here. It has been a challenging few days.
“America, Japan, France, Holland Turkey, India and the UK are all working on plans to evacuate their citizens in Wuhan with immediate effect. Basically, we’ve been told by the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) to just hang in there and abide by the Chinese government’s regulations,” he said.
Dirco spokesperson Lunga Nqgengelele said there were no plans to evacuate South Africans at the moment.
“We are not at that stage as a government,” Nqgengelele said.
Yesterday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said response teams to the outbreak were activated in all nine provinces, while a specialised team monitored the spread.
He added that there have been no reported or suspected cases in South Africa.