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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Haroon Siddique and agency

Wales: market trader from Taiwan told to leave stall over coronavirus fears

Su Chu Lu, who has been running her stall in the Market Hall for 15 years, had just returned from Taiwan to Aberystwyth.
Su Chu Lu, who has been running her stall in the Market Hall for 15 years, had just returned from Taiwan to Aberystwyth. Photograph: Facebook

A market trader in Wales has accused fellow stallholders of bigotry after she was told to leave her stall because of fears she might have coronavirus.

Su Chu Lu, 54, returned to the historic indoor market in Aberystwyth, west Wales, after travelling to Taiwan – hundreds of miles from the centre of the outbreak in Wuhan – only for traders to tell her she was “putting them all at risk”.

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 

Su, who has been running her stall for 15 years, said some traders held a meeting to ban her from reopening the shop in Aberystwyth Market Hall.

“When I arrived at the hall and got to my own stall the man who works opposite mine immediately asked me to leave the building,” said Su. “He stressed that every member of the hall all think I must leave the building otherwise he will contact the council to force me out.” She said another trader next to him supported his demand.

“I was really upset, it was very emotional and upsetting, and I’m angry,” said Su. “There are so many cases of the virus in the rest of this world, so why did this trader target me? I have no doubt it is because of my nationality, because of my skin colour. That’s what makes me deeply unhappy about this.”

“I think they assume I have gone to China but I didn’t go, and they still didn’t believe me. I don’t know if they believe me now.”

She said she was willing to forgive them as she just wanted an end to the issue.

The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.

The UN agency advises people to:

  • Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap
  • Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing
  • Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough
  • Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers
  • Avoid direct, unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals when visiting live markets in affected areas
  • Avoid eating raw or undercooked animal products and exercise care when handling raw meat, milk or animal organs to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods.

Despite a surge in sales of face masks in the aftermath of the outbreak of the coronavirus outbreak, experts are divided over whether they can prevent transmission and infection. There is some evidence to suggest that masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions, given the large number of times people touch their faces. The consensus appears to be that wearing a mask can limit – but not eliminate – the risks, provided they are used correctly.

Justin McCurry

Other traders have rallied round to back her by putting posters up on their stalls saying: “I support Su Chu Lu.”

David Gilbert, a jeweller, said: “I immediately gave Su Chu Lu my continued support. This has been caused by a minority in the market hall.”

But another trader, who asked not to be named, said: “If she had been to London or France and there had been an outbreak there it would have been the same. It’s not something we’re all involved in, and I don’t think it was handled the best way but [it was] not ever intended to be racial.”

The government’s advice is for anyone returning from Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, to stay indoors. Anyone travelling from elsewhere in China is advised to stay indoors only if they are showing symptoms.

Taiwan has 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus, compared with two in the UK. In Hubei, there have been more than 13,000 infections and more than 400 deaths.

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