Just yesterday evening I was chatting with my family about the Wuhan coronavirus situation, and how the government there really should shutdown the entire city: hold everything in static until the appropriate authorities can figure out exactly what’s going on. The spread of the virus is too prolific to not take this extreme step, though we recognize China is currently right in the middle of the great Chinese New Year migration, so restricting access to a city of 11 million would have tremendous ramifications for what is the biggest holiday for the country.
Conversely, I’m sure the annual migration plays a part in how fast the coronavirus have spread outwards from Wuhan, if person-to-person transmission is indeed confirmed. It represents a real Sophie’s choice for the powers at be.
I was quite surprised then to read this morning that Wuhan is now effectively under quarantine: air and train traffic in or out of the city is completely shutdown, and public transportation within the city have also ceased operation. It’s a necessary move that I didn't think the Chinese government had it in them to make. A few weeks back when this whole coronavirus issue has yet to proliferate into a concern for the World Health Organization, the only Chinese media reporting the few cases was all in Hong Kong - there was a de-facto blackout of the news in the mainland.
I know this, because I was there, and was initially baffled at why the Guangzhou media wasn’t reporting anything on the Wuhan situation. Of course, I quickly remembered exactly what sort of governance China is under, and it seems Beijing is keen to keep a lid on the problem for as long as possible.
Until travelers started to bring the virus back to their home countries from China. I’m low-key glad I returned to the States well before the issue exploded to an International-level crisis, because last thing I want is any hiccups going through immigration. CBP would and should carefully screen passengers on planes originating from China, even those not directly from Wuhan. Now that the whole city is under quarantine, I would not be surprised if countries of the world would do the same for travelers coming from China. With the direct cause and factors about the coronavirus still unknown, the stakes are too high.
An early morning at Pier 1 before the crowds.