I am from WuHan, China, ask me anything how is the coronavirus epidemic

Do you personally know anyone who has had the virus?

I do not know anyone that is infected.

How are people in Wuhan getting food and other such necessities?

We can still go out to buy groceries, but since we are not allowed to drive, we can only get it from nearby grocery stores. Gov't aid a bunch of necessities to the city. They distribute the goods to the grocery stores, broadcast about the aid so that people don't panic and buy out everything in the grocery store.

We can still order deliveries, but it is very hard. First, there are barely any restaurants that are open. Second, It's very difficult to order from the restaurant that's open because a lot of people are ordering from them, they are over capacity. Lastly, the delivery person cant deliver far since they have to travel on foot.

Is the groceries overpriced?

no, i dont think anyone dare to jack up the price. one pharmacy got a big find for selling overprice mask.

OP we need an answer!

Honestly though he left Wuhan the day before the quarantine. I doubt he personally knows that info. He'd have to ask people still there.
Edit: Ok, my bad for reading the description of his AmA AND being right. Keep being you, reddit.

My folk and families are still there, the above answers are from discussion with them in the past.

How do local Wuhan residents treat the ill? Meaning, for example, if you're at the grocery store and you see someone coughing or wheezing, is that person simply avoided? Do people call the authorities to report suspicious illness? Is the overall attitude one of nervous paranoia, or are people remaining hopeful and helpful to one another?

Thanks for doing this AMA! I'm just very curious about what it'd be like emotionally to be living behind the quarantine wall

so in wuhan now, outside of every public service location, there are quarantine stations with officers station in it. Anyone go in and out will need to have temperature measured. If they found anyone thats suspicious of carrying the disease, they will ask you in detail of where you been ect.

I think everyone is taking this quarantine very serious. i havent heard anyone reported someone who has the disease, but im sure there are. for real if someone is sick, he/she is likly staying at home self qurantine, or go to hospital, not walking on the street activly trying to spread it.

How is your friend currently?

we are all at home, chatting online, drinking, playing pokers, games ect..

What is the first thing you will buy after the quarantine ends?

I want to go out and eat a big meal. There is a chicken hot pot place that I like a lot, I miss it and I want to go there as soon as the situation gets better.

How’s the quarantine looking? Is it a military quarantine type deal or is it still local government level quarantine? What’s the general atmosphere right now? I can only assume people are terrified?

No military, still local government type deal.

The quarantine is different from citie to cities. Wuhan is the most strict, no cars are allowed to be on the street except for official or aiding vehicles. WuHan is now an empty city, there are basically no pedestrians on the street.

Other cities aren't as bad, Govt suggest you all stay at home to self-quarantine.

Have utilities been impacted? Water, gas, electricity, sewage? It takes a lot of folks to keep those running.

All utilities are working as normal. Gov't officials city workers, hospital staffs working overtime, only civilians are quarantined.

Something glaringly missing from every single discussion on reddit about the crisis is how can the international community help? Everyone is ready to post memes and complain about chinese people but no one has stepped up to ask how we can help. Really shows how chinese people have been dehumanized in the west when people only care to point and laugh as hundreds of thousands or more people are in mortal danger. I know there is a shortage of masks in wuhan and the rest of china, is there any way we can buy them in our home countries and send them over or donate to any organizations that are doing so? Are there any medical organizations that we can donate to?

wow,好感动！i am so touched. Thank you for your kindness.

I don't know a good way to donate, I will find out. There are definitely shortages of masks in Wuhan.

I saw a video of someone from Lao (or Maynmar？） throwing mask over the fence to Chinese border patrol. It's people like you make this world beautiful.

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Edit: please do not donate to WuHan Red Cross, that Red Cross is corrupted. They were found to by the officials that they detain donated goods illegally, and they were found to ask the doners for management fees. The big hospitals didnt receive donation, only some small hospitals received their donation, which is very fishy.

How is the city functioning when the majority of people are staying home?

Well it's Chinese New Year right now, we were suppose to be on break, everything were suppose to be closed anyway. The real challenge is when when the extended holiday is over, lets see if the city can go back to functioning normally after that.

Cool story. Have you stayed stuck at home or do you have to work?

I am staying at home currently. It is still Chinese New Year, we are currently on holiday break. The gov't recommends that we do not go outside. The Chinese New Year break has been extended by the officials to Feb 9th.

How is the economy holding up? I know it’s too short term for nation impact ideas, but locally, how are people holding up? Any word on stores closing or anything?

It's Chinese New Year right now, everything suppose to be close anyway. We won't know the impact to the local economy until after the extended holiday is over.

Do you know any medical workers in the city, how are they doing?

While we are here:

Just to save internet sleuths some time: 4222 is the Chinese National ID code for Xiaogan, a surburb/town immediately west of Wuhan proper--it's basically the same city.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Central_China_administrative_division_codes_of_the_PRC_(Division_4)

Thanks for confirming. I was born in the suburb and move to the city later, the suburb is basically the same city like you siad, short of like long beach and los angeles.

What's the general feeling of the situation in Wuhan? Are people nervous/scared?

I don't know anyone around me that is scared or freak out, but im sure all are worried. I'm guessing the ones who are scared are the one who got the disease.

Why are they not scared?

Are we overreacting?

Why are they not scared?

Are we overreacting?

Most people aren't scared, just worry some. Like from 1 to 10, 10 being terrified, most people are on like 3-5, some people are on 9-10 for sure, but it's not like the entire everyone i know of is on 9-10.

Do you think the media is reporting accurately?

on social media, there are a lot of information that's spreading very fast, like how the hospital is critically in shortage of staff and supplies, and a lot of patience on the lying on the floors waiting to be rescued, and those kinds of news goes viral very quick, but then you know we also have to watch out for fake news, a lot of social medias like to go viral so they get more clicks and so they make more money. We believe the official medias more than the self-medias (social medias)

Is either media source really trust worthy?

i believe the official media, social media and self media can be easily faked, and they have the interest of making fake news, they want to go viral, they want more clicks so it make them more money.

Did it really originated from the meat markets? What are those like? Do you think this will scare people into avoiding meat markets?

yeah, it originated from a game meat store in a seafood market. That store sells bat and other type of game meat.. The researchers say that the virus is from the bats that are sold in that store.

Why still sell and eat bats of they're known to carry diseases? I believe that's also how Ebola started was from eating bats.

who knows, there are some weird and stupid people out there...even after this happened, there is an idiot out there posting pictures that shes eating bat soup on social media, trying to go viral and to get attention.

I guess you're talking about Wang Mengyun - the video you're talking about was recorded in 2016 in Palau, where people regularly eat bats, as part of a reality travel show called Dream Runner. It was not recorded recently and it was not recorded in China.

Someone else found the clip and reposted it recently - she did not post it herself and she has already apologized for any panic or confusion it might've caused.

I'm not saying it's a good idea to eat bats, but you should check your facts before you post.

Thank you for correcting me, Chinese or American, we are just as likely to get misinformation from the social media. I apologise that I didnt check the fact before I said it, I was only saying from what I know.

The US is saying it was from snakes. Have you heard anything about that? Are they also sold in that market?

it's from some kind of animal. the official says it's from the bats. Yes sneaks are also sold in the market.

What Are you doing to pass the time?

im bored, been playing zelda breth of the wild wind, i already beat it, but still play cuz im bored. I watch more than 10 movies and finish one tv series already, bored.

Is the game meat store popular? Is it pretty normal for animals like bat's or other wild animals of that nature to be eaten?

Game meat are not popular in general, I don't even know that place exists before that.

There are people who game meat and treat it like a delicacy, but never heard anyone eating bat though, bat is like, wayyyyy beyond what normal game meat is in China. Normal game meat will be like sneak, hogs, rabbits ect. I have had these, but bat is just wayyy out of the norm.

There are alot of memes online right now making fun of people who eat bat, things like this one, it's basically a cave man beating a guy, yelling "daddy took thousdans of years to domesticate animals for you, you dont fking eat them, you eat game meat!? Or, a cartoon of a bat goes super angry says "i evolved thousands of years to not look like im edible, and you idiots still trys to eat me?

How do you feel about how the national and local government is handling this? Do you want to see a government change?

people are still angry at Wuhan gov't as of today. From the beginning, they hide the diseases, then they spread the misinformation about it's not contagious, then the hospital was critically lack of supplies. A lot of people online are denouncing the mayor and it's gov't officials to resign and be punished for it's wrong doing. The national gov't has been pretty thunderous and dead-on to solve this situation. The nationwide regulation, building new hospitals, open channels for the public to report local official wrongdoing ect are pretty good effective policies.

How quickly are they building new hospitals? I’d have to believe that would take multiple months.

Very fast, Chinese construction speed are not joke. They are building 2 new hospitals, one on fire god mountain, one on thunder god mountain.

They have it live on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrIKdDCNNKY

What would you imagine are the actual death counts? Is the Chinese government being forthright in their release of information?

At the beginning, the local gov't was very likely lying about the tolls. When it becomes a national matter on the 23rd, the daily tolls become pretty transparent, it is published on various news channels and websites.

One problem though, confirmed diagnosis takes a very long time, there are some who die and because of this disease, but yet to be diagnosed (maybe they are not in hospital, maybe they are in hospital but wasn't seen by doctor yet) will not count towards the current death toll.

I’ve seen several articles about people getting arrested for posting certain things on social media. Is it possible you could get in trouble for supplying this thread?

hahaha i hope not hahaha, I speak the truth, and also my friend soysssauce is translating it for me.

Is it common for people to get flu shots there? What percent of people wear masks in public?

very little, at least that i know of. In China you only required to have like hepatitis A and B, and some other shots i forgot what. other than that that's it.

My coworker's daughter is living in China and says whenever she goes to Walmart the greeters take her temperature. Is this your experience too?

There are quarantine stations outside of all major public areas in Wuhan, those workers take your temperatures. As for me personally, I have been staying home for more than a week now, I haven't gone to any public places, even though I'm not in Wuhan.

Do you have any information on the severity of the disease? Have you heard of anyone who has been infected and how he/she is doing, and how bad the case is?

I don't know anyone that's infected. There are billions of us and only few thousand that's confirmed. The odds of knowing someone thats infected is very low.

On the ground, is there a sense that the government has this under control? Have you thought about any contingency plans if the situation takes a turn for the worst

Yeah i think the national gov't is doing everything they can to solve the problem. China is a big country you know, every province every city has it's own measure of how to control the outbreak.

I don't have a real contingency plan. I guess If one day the situation becomes worse, and i got infected too, and the hospital in my city is overloaded, then all i can do is drive to other city that has openings for me.

How is the general atmosphere in Beijing? Does life go on as normal there?

I wish your friend and his family all the best. 加油！

Beijing is not under quarantine, we are allow to go outside, but not many people does. I try to stay home to save mask, and only use it when i absolutely must go outside, like when I need to go outside walk my dog. 谢谢你祝福！

Have you heard any accounts of the severity of the symptoms of the virus? How does it compare to say the flu or bronchitis?

it started like a flu, you cough, fever, running nose, and then it becomes extremely hard to breath, ct scan shows large area of your lung turning white.

Do you think Lantern Festival will be cancelled as well?

I dunno, I think it won't be officially cancled, but no one will go outside to celebrate it.

Is it still legal to sell for food wild animals?

It's illegal to sell wild animals. It's legal to sell farmed animals. Like if a sneak is caught in the wild it's illegal. If it's raise in a farm it's legal.

When you go grocery shopping, are you doing the shopping or only picking up a box? And how crowded are the grocery stores?

the first couple day when the announce of quarantine will happen, a lot of people lineup outside of grocery stores to get grocerys, gas station to get gas, but a few days into the quarantine, people realize that there are plenty of supplies from govt aid, no one is panicking anymore.

Did you or your family see the hospital they built in 6 days? It just amazes me that they could build something so fast.

I havent been outside in days. There a live video you can watch. Something like 18 billion people watch them being build live at one point.

雷神山http://t.cn/A6PIeT14

火神山http://t.cn/A6PIYNvD ​​​

How do you personally feel about the rumor/allegation online that this virus leaked out from the Wuhan laboratory rather than originating from the seafood market?

I think it's a conspiracy theory, I personally do not believe it at all. Every major event there will be some kind of conspiracy theory, like how people even conspire that USA didnt land on the moon.

Do you believe the meat market story could be a smokescreen for the virus just escaping from the desease research center there?

I think the disease definately comes from wild animals, although im not sure if it really comes form bat, but i dont believe in conspiracy theory. In reality once every decade there are some kind of virus that mankind hasent seen before that are spreading, and this one happens to be in China.

Are people in China aware that racists are laughing about the situation and saying Chinese are disgusting and they all deserve to die from the virus?

Are transport and social services still going? Like public buses, post office delivery etc?

i think most Chinese arent aware of racist laughing about the situation, because they dont eat game meats, and they don't know what wrong they did. I feel like the chinese in foreign country are more innocents, they are the one that's taking the racist and torture.

What is a common misconception about the yourself?

that i know what wolf pup taste like.

well that is an interesting factoid...is eating that common where you live?

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ewixg6/i_am_from_wuhan_china_ask_me_anything_how_is_the/fg2krol?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

I'm joking. Im referring to this guy.

Is the gov’t giving out sun-maid raisins?

no? what that?