Thousands of African students in Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus epidemic, face dwindling food supplies, limited information and lockdowns restricting them to their campuses or hostels.
Two weeks after restrictions on movement were imposed, residents are running short of basic necessities, say students in the central Chinese city.
What is the virus causing illness in Wuhan?
It is a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. Many of those initially infected either worked or frequently shopped in the Huanan seafood wholesale market in the centre of the Chinese city.
What other coronaviruses have there been?
New and troubling viruses usually originate in animal hosts. Ebola and flu are other examples – severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers) are both caused by coronaviruses that came from animals.
What are the symptoms of the Wuhan coronavirus?
The virus causes pneumonia. Those who have fallen ill are reported to suffer coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. In severe cases there can be organ failure. As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work. If people are admitted to hospital, they may get support for their lungs and other organs as well as fluids. Recovery will depend on the strength of their immune system. Many of those who have died were already in poor health.
Is the virus being transmitted from one person to another?
Human to human transmission has been confirmed by China’s national health commission, and there have been human-to-human transmissions in the US and in Germany. As of 7 February, the death toll stands at 636 inside China, one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines. Infections inside China stand at 31,161 and global infections have passed 280 in 28 countries. The mortality rate is 2%.
Two members of one family have been confirmed to have the virus in the UK, and a third person was diagnosed with it in Brighton, after more than 400 were tested and found negative. The Foreign Office has urged UK citizens to leave China if they can.
The number of people to have contracted the virus could be far higher, as people with mild symptoms may not have been detected. Modelling by World Health Organization (WHO) experts at Imperial College London suggests there could be as many as 100,000 cases, with uncertainty putting the margins between 30,000 and 200,000.
Why is this worse than normal influenza, and how worried are the experts?
We don’t yet know how dangerous the new coronavirus is, and we won’t know until more data comes in. The mortality rate is around 2%. However, this is likely to be an overestimate since many more people are likely to have been infected by the virus but not suffered severe enough symptoms to attend hospital, and so have not been counted. For comparison, seasonal flu typically has a mortality rate below 1% and is thought to cause about 400,000 deaths each year globally. Sars had a death rate of more than 10%.
Should I go to the doctor if I have a cough?
Unless you have recently travelled to China or been in contact with someone infected with the virus, then you should treat any cough or cold symptoms as normal. The NHS advises that people should call 111 instead of visiting the GP’s surgery as there is a risk they may infect others.
Is this a pandemic and should we panic?
Health experts are starting to say it could become a pandemic, but right now it falls short of what the WHO would consider to be one. A pandemic, in WHO terms, is “the worldwide spread of a disease”. Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in about 25 countries outside China, but by no means in all 195 on the WHO’s list.
There is no need to panic. The spread of the virus outside China is worrying but not an unexpected development. The WHO has declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern, and says there is a “window of opportunity” to halt the spread of the disease. The key issues are how transmissible this new coronavirus is between people and what proportion become severely ill and end up in hospital. Often viruses that spread easily tend to have a milder impact.
Sarah Boseley Health editor and Hannah Devlin
Several people described profound anxiety, insufficient food and a lack of information. Many complained about the lack of assistance received from their own embassies but refrained from criticising Chinese authorities.
There are more than 80,000 African students in China, often attracted by generous government scholarships. About 5,000 are thought to be in Wuhan, where there are scores of further education establishments offering qualifications that are prized in Africa.
A 21-year-old student from Cameroon living in Jingzhou city was reported on Tuesday to be among new cases. He is thought to have contracted the illness on a trip to Wuhan two weeks ago before the lockdown was imposed on the city but is not in any danger, university officials said.
More than 56 students from Malawi, mostly on scholarships, are among those trapped in Wuhan.
Bright Chipao, the president of the Association of Malawians in the city, said the students were desperate. “There is panic among us as we don’t know how long we are going to survive. We are also increasingly running out of foodstuffs,” he said.
Chipao said the students lacked masks, food and water. Prices had tripled in the city, he said.
The students have asked the Malawian government to airlift them out of the city and return them home, citing the example of other countries in Africa. However Chinese authorities have asked local embassies to tell their citizens not to seek to return home to avoid further spread of the disease.
Many educational establishments have imposed rigorous curbs on students, restricting them to their campuses or hostels. A statement from one colleges read: “Considering your safety, please stay inside your dormitory during this period … Most of the materials are in short supply. Please save resources, cherish your life.”
Kondwani Chembezi, a Malawian student at Wuhan University of Technology, said he and his roommate had only 2 gallons (9 litres) of water and some food.
He said: “Wuhan is becoming a death zone each passing day as the numbers of infected persons, as well as death toll, keep rising. There’s a great atmosphere of panic and despair as others have been repatriated to their nations, yet others remain here trying to survive this unpredictable period.
“Going [to buy things] is a grave personal risk as no one knows who has been exposed to the virus – anyone can be a carrier. Prices of commodities have really gone high – three or more times the usual price. It’s a hustle to actually buy what you need as the demand is also high.”
A Kenyan postgraduate student who has been in Wuhan for five years said the biggest problems were a shortage of reliable information and of food.
He said: “The worst part about it all is not knowing what is going on because all the information we are getting is from online sources or from friends from other universities … We have been forced to have one meal a day.
“Our institute gave us some rice, milk, oil and some vegetables but advises we also use them sparingly because when they are over we might not [be able] to get more.”
Many students contacted by the Guardian were reluctant to talk or be named, as they feared expulsion or other sanctions.
A Ugandan doctor in Shanghai said she and her colleagues felt better on Monday after a “worrying weekend”.
“We’re wearing our masks, washing our hands and avoiding crowded places,” she said. “But most importantly we’re trying to be positive and not live in constant fear and panic.”
Additional reporting by April Zhu in Nairobi
