'Fear of contamination is a constant companion': SA woman trapped in Wuhan

Amy Pittaway is a South African who teaches English in Wuhan. Picture: Supplied

Amy Pittaway is a South African who teaches English in Wuhan. Picture: Supplied

Published Jan 29, 2020

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I moved to Wuhan, China, in May 2019 to teach English. We first became aware of the coronavirus in December of 2019 when our school recommended that we wear masks, but I had no idea of the risks. 

It has only been in the last two weeks that the dangers of the virus have been broadcast and the statistics shared. 

We only really realized the seriousness of the epidemic when classes were cancelled at work on the 21st of January. 

The next day the airports cancelled all flights coming in and out of Wuhan, and all the busses, Metros and Taxi services in and around the city stopped running too. 

The bridges connecting the district of Wuhan where I live to the rest of the city were closed and residents were instructed to stay indoors. 

Shops, whose owners are trapped outside the city, remain closed and families cannot return home. 

For the past seven days, I have not left my apartment building. 

I love walking around the lake and being outdoors, and not being able to leave my flat is troubling. I feel isolated from everyone and everything. It puts my emotions and brain on high alert and makes me, for lack of a better word, feel “crazy”. 

When authorities banned all traffic on the road I woke up and I could hear birds - when normally all I hear is traffic. This made the whole situation feel very eerie. 

The writer says the lack of traffic noises adds to the eerie atmosphere in the city that has all but shut down. Picture: Supplied

I am cautious of people and what the consequence of just being near them might be. I am terrified of sneezing or coughing in case I get quarantined and placed with people who are truly sick in hospitals that are overcrowded. 

I have always considered myself strong emotionally and I try and keep myself busy and keep my mind focused, but then I find new statistics on what the virus is doing and break down in tears. 

Not being able to speak the language has also played a part in the feeling of isolation; I cannot even go across the hall and ask my neighbour for some milk. I have felt like the walls are closing in on me, despite never having suffered from claustrophobia before. 

The fear of contamination; or just simply the feeling of being trapped; is a constant companion. Being suspended in the epicentre of this crisis leaves me feeling very vulnerable and stressed. 

I am fortunate enough to have colleagues that live in the same building as me, but there are expats out there that don’t, or who live in isolated areas and need to struggle daily with these emotions by themselves. I am also fortunate to work for an amazing company that had one of their own members of staff, a local, deliver surgical masks and food to us at the risk of getting sick. 

This is not the case for everyone. They are forced to put themselves at risk to go out to find an open shop where they can get fresh produce, or even just a packet of 2-minute noodles. Deliveries of medical and food supplies into the city are limited, and home grocery deliveries currently take 3-4 days. 

Right now, the South Africans trapped in Wuhan are asking everyone for assistance to get us out. For me personally, it’s not because I don’t believe the various governments involved in the crisis are doing all they can to contain and control the spread of the virus. Nor do I think my own government is not doing all it can to get South Africans in the epicentre out. 

To put it simply, I am a just 24-year-old girl that really wants to hug her mother.

IOL

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