Coronavirus lockdown in Wuhan means foreign residents with no flight out must sit tight
- Efforts to get overseas citizens out of Hubei epicentre vary – some are airlifted home, but others are left to make most of situation among 11 million Wuhan residents
- Isolation and frustration are common among foreigners when even mourning the death of loved one becomes impossible
Nigerian student Peter has not left his flat in Wuhan for more than a week, because thousands of cases of coronavirus are reported in the central Chinese city every day.
The 25-year-old once wished his government would move him and about 50 fellow students and businesspeople away from the epicentre of the outbreak, but, as time passed, communication from the Nigerian embassy in Beijing stopped and his hopes of a way out seemed to have faded.
“We expect financial and emotional support even if we don’t get evacuated, but we haven’t received any support,” he said on Thursday.
Peter, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals from his government, said he had surgical masks from the Chinese university where he studied. But he was more worried about his countrymen and their families as pressure on their finances grows.
“Truthfully, I think the psychological strain is just increasing every day,” he said.
About three weeks have passed since the capital of central Hubei province was locked down to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Eleven million residents have been prevented from leaving the city – as have the 15,000 foreigners who must remain there unless their countries arrange to take them home.
