(**This post will have future updates, so please scroll to the bottom for the latest update**)

While I try to keep this blog about my travels, I decided that the issue of the coronavirus (now referred to as “COVID-19”) outbreak this year should be talked about, especially since I am living in China at the time of this post.

The media coverage inside and outside of China couldn’t be more different.

Media coverage inside the country, of course, has a more positive tone and emphasizes the accomplishments of the government and strength of the people (ex. building a hospital, which is really a quarantine facility, not a regular hospital, in Wuhan within 2 weeks). Among many foreigners and expats, there seems to be a sense that the media is blowing the situation out of proportion and that there is too much hysteria, while some others are a bit more cautious.

During this time, many people are posting articles, photos, and videos of their daily lives. The general message is that the Chinese are strong and coming together to deal with this crisis. There are videos of residents in Wuhan shouting chants of “jiayoa!” meaning “add oil,” which really means “come on, let’s go.” People all over are in a self-quarantine period of 14 days. I feel bad for those who didn’t have a chance to travel and have been stuck at home in self-quarantine all this time. It must be especially difficult to have kids stuck at home. There have also been posts from people around the globe giving messages of support.

Some people who have not left the country during the holiday have been held up longer than two weeks. People have uploaded videos of “bored Chinese people” resorting to all kinds of ways to pass the time and amuse themselves.

My school originally planned to reopen on February 3, but due to the provincial government’s orders, many schools were told to wait for two weeks and that all staff should stay home to self-quarantine. Then came the announcement that many schools in Shanghai would not open until the beginning of March. During this time, the school decided to offer us some “emergency supplies.” A couple of things offered were helpful, while the rest were not.

During this time, teachers have been told to create materials and videos to be shared using an online sharing drive that parents can access. So far, this system seems to be working fine. I also have to admit that I’m glad to be at home still rather than immediately returning to school, mainly because Chinese New Year happened early this year and being home will help to make this month go by faster.

Due to this situation, there has been a huge demand for face masks. Wearing a face mask while sick is a very common thing, not just in China but all over Asia. This virus outbreak has resulted in mask supplies being bought up all over China as well as around the world. Pharmacies quickly sold out, and even online retailers like Amazon were quickly selling out. Being the resourceful people that they are, many Chinese citizens resorted to other means to deal with this.

This has led to the discussion about hygiene and sanitation, something that is an important topic for China since many still don’t use soap to wash their hands, and often public bathrooms don’t even supply hand soap, depending on if you are in a bigger city or in a western restaurant or hotel. Many older citizens and the less educated population do not have much knowledge about hygiene, and, in fact, some don’t even believe in bacteria or viruses. There has also been much discussion about which kind of mask is useful and which isn’t. The kind known as “N95” is frequently brought up as one that can help, although it doesn’t protect the eyes from physical contact. This kind of mask is typically used to deal with days where pollution levels are high.

The local governments have also resorted to using drones to shout at citizens who don’t follow the orders to wear their masks when in public. An interesting inside look into the authoritarian style of leadership used here.

Some have rebelled against being told to wear a mask, which has resulted in some being arrested and detained for violating this rule. This has also led some to create make-shift masks to accommodate their lifestyle without too much interruption.

Luckily, some people have also come up with other ways to help decrease physical contact with objects.

That is the positive side. However, there is also a darker side to the situation.

Unfortunately, here in China there is still a survivalist mentality from the Mao era, and this has led some people to not only view life as a never-ending fight to survive and to think only of one’s self and their family, but there are also those who continue to take full advantage of situations like this. One such example is the scam of people sifting through garbage and collecting used masks so they can resell them as new! This has led to the advice of cutting up one’s mask after they finish using it.

This has also spawned numerous rumors and false information as to things that might help prevent infection and home remedies that can cure infection.

As a result, several news articles have come out recently talking about how a mix of antivirals, which are normally given to flu patients and HIV patients, has been said to dramatically help those with the coronavirus. It sounds promising, but time will tell whether methods like this will be used or if there will be a push for more traditional means, like a vaccine.

In terms of travel, many flights have been rerouted or just cancelled outright between China and other nations. I managed to get back to China from Thailand without any problem, but some of the other teachers stated that their return flights had been cancelled, sometimes several times. At the time of this post, Mongolia and Russia closed their borders, as well as other nations putting strict travel restrictions on Chinese nationals and anyone who has been traveling recently from China. Recently, doctors in Hong Kong went on strike in order to demand stricter border closure policies so as not to be overwhelmed by an influx of people from Mainland China.

With this came announcements from places like the US that stated they would charter a plane to evacuate US citizens, but at the US citizens own cost. Since then, other nations have also advised their citizens to leave China if they are able to.

Notably, the British government announced that they too would be evacuating some of their employees from their consulates, and because of this, there would be less staff to assist British citizens, and therefore they are advised to leave China if they can.

As information has been all over the place in terms of rumors vs. correct medical advice, there were even some concerns in certain areas that people’s pets might contribute to the spread of the virus, which led some localities to implement strict warnings to citizens not to take their animals out and even threaten to cull them altogether.

This was not a nationwide policy or recommendation, though; it only appeared in some smaller districts in smaller cities.

As if the virus wasn’t enough, apparently there was also a small earthquake in Sichuan recently. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any major damage or injuries; at least nothing has made the news yet. Sichuan Province is prone to earthquakes and previously suffered a devastating earthquake back in 2008.

Some of the most damning information that has come out is about the government’s initial handling (or, should I say, “mishandling”) of the outbreak. Information has come out now that a group of doctors in a WeChat group were discussing the virus back in December after the first person had been diagnosed. It turns out that the local police decided to punish these doctors rather than allow them to freely discuss their thoughts about it. In fact, one of these doctors, after being forced to sign a confession that he was guilty of “spreading false rumors,” went on to treat more patients that were infected and ended up catching the infection himself.

Despite the praise from mainstream media and the WHO, some Chinese citizens have also criticized the government’s handling of the situation, as noted below by a citizen in Wuhan.

Though the situation doesn’t seem so dire outside of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, within Wuhan it seems to be a much different story. Stories have come out about citizens self-barricading their neighborhoods and aggressively keeping out anyone they view as being ill, as well as footage of people being forcefully locked and barricaded inside their apartments by local police.

To make matters worse, some people early on who had symptoms still managed to overcome the travel restrictions and make it out of China. The problem here, besides the obvious issue of potentially spreading the virus, was that they then went on social media (like WeChat) and openly bragged about how they outsmarted travel security. This blatant announcement of inept security personnel being made public is an obvious embarrassment, but it also shows a clear disregard for the well-being of others and only adds fuel to the criticism that China has received. This has also contributed to a rise in racist and fearmongering language towards Chinese people around the world, as well as people of other Asian ethnicities.

In an even more bizarre display of animosity towards their fellow citizens (for whatever reason), there have also been a handful of videos uploaded to WeChat of people in elevators that look like they are purposely trying to defy the health ordinances given by the government and are actually trying to create unsanitary conditions for others. This video, along with several others that I’ve seen, shows someone purposely sneezing, coughing, or licking tissues or their bare hands and wiping them all over the elevator buttons. I can’t pretend to know their reasoning for doing this, but it certainly does not look good and only causes more tension and fear among each other.

Finally, there are the numbers being reported for the infected, the dead, and the recoveries. The numbers being reported are all based on the Chinese government’s officially approved data. There is reason to be skeptical of these numbers, though, as it has been shown in past articles about how hospitals had run out of test kits and therefore were unable to truly reflect the number of confirmed cases. Also, because it has been reported that some people who have the virus are asymptomatic, it is therefore more difficult to determine just how many are actually infected.

Another article that I read recently talked about some strange information regarding the history of this virus. According to the article, back in January 2018, China’s first bio-security level 4 lab (designed for the study of the world’s most dangerous pathogens) opened in Wuhan. Apparently, this lab was also 20 miles from the now-famous wet market believed to be the epicenter of the outbreak. Also mentioned in the article was that on October 18, 2019, the “Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored a pandemic preparedness exercise in New York, practicing for the emergence of a new fictional viral illness dubbed “coronavirus acute pulmonary syndrome.” You can read more of this article below.

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/02/04/novel-coronavirus.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20200204Z1&et_cid=DM450922&et_rid=804078203

This seems very odd, indeed. I can understand why some people believe that this whole situation could actually be part of some other nefarious plan. I have no idea if that is true or not, but another concern that seems more likely is that of lax security at this bio-security level 4 lab and lower standards of protocol when handling potentially dangerous microorganisms. This relates back to what I said earlier about there being a real problem with the lack of knowledge about and the enforcement of basic hygiene and sanitation in China.

My own experience upon returning to Shanghai was that the process was pretty much the same as before, the only real difference being that I had to fill out an additional health declaration form on the plane and hand it in along with my usual documents to the immigration staff. There were three people in hazmat suits who stopped me to check to see if I had the paper, and once I showed it to them, they just waved me on to the next area as normal. No one took my temperature, even though I thought for sure someone would. I don’t know if they were using a thermal scanner somewhere or not, so I don’t know the reason for not individually checking people’s temperatures.

Also, the last part of leaving Pudong airport is where you put your bags through the conveyor belt to be scanned before exiting. While waiting in line, one of the airport staff came over, un-clipped the divider tape just a few people ahead of me, and just told everyone to exit rather than wait for their bags to be scanned. I thought this was quite strange. This turned out to be one of the fastest re-entries that I ever experienced, and it was truly ironic. I can’t help but feel that the process should have been more thorough, though.

Well, that is what life has been like here since the onset of this outbreak. I hope that this gives people more clarification and insight into what has been going on.

***Update*** February 8, 2020

I read an article on WeChat saying that there is now a possibility that the virus could have come from pangolin. Apparently, the pangolin is one of many exotic animals that are used in traditional Chinese medicine and was likely sold at the Wuhan wet market. Previous stories circulated, stating that they originally thought the virus might have come from people eating bats. It mentioned that the virus that the pangolin sometimes carries has a 99% genetic match to the coronavirus. I guess we’ll see where that story goes.

***Update*** February 9, 2020

Below is a video that I wanted to post regarding information that is not being talked about, at least certainly not within Chinese articles on social media.

***Update February 9, 2020***

Someone in one of the WeChat groups just stated this about one of the hospitals here in Songjiang, Shanghai…

“I went to the hospital and couldn’t get service. All departments are closed until further notice, except for Corona-related issues, which I assume are emergencies. I’m sharing this message because I know some of you need medicines from the hospital; you really need to find an alternative way to get them.”

***Update*** February 9, 2020

After speaking to a friend of mine who lives in Hangzhou, she told me the draconian measures the city is taking compared to the measures currently put in place here in Shanghai. She said it seems like Hangzhou is copying the same measures as the city of Wenzhou due to a spike in confirmed cases. Later, I was told by one of my coworkers that this is also the case in Chengdu.

• All public transportation is suspended (subway, buses, taxis, ride-sharing).
• Each household must register one member (the designated person cannot be changed) who is the only one allowed to leave their apartment complex. They are only allowed to leave once every two days, and when they leave, they are only allowed to leave once during the designated day. She isn’t sure how long this will last, but it started on February 4, and she expects it to last until probably the end of the month. Upon leaving or re-entering she must present her little red register booklet to be notated by the guards and have her temperature taken.

• Eating out at restaurants is now banned, but food delivery is still allowed.
• When shopping at the supermarket, you have to present your passport or ID.
• She stated that it’s been an interesting role reversal in terms of western shoppers vs. Chinese shoppers. She said normally the Chinese shop sells about a day’s worth of groceries, but now she sees locals shopping “like they are an American family.”
• Her father-in-law arrived to visit, starting on the last day of November. He was supposed to stay for three months, but now it looks like it will be at least four months due to all the US flights being cancelled. She said they booked him on a flight that would re-route him through Tokyo, but then that flight got cancelled. She said that US flights are not likely to restart again until at least the end of March. As a result, he will need a visa extension. Luckily, the visa office stated that it’s OK if his visa expires and to just come in to extend it whenever they are back in operation.
• She is not able to shop on Taobao currently. She said the only two couriers currently operating are SF Express and China Post, and since many of the sellers don’t use these couriers, they are not able to ship their orders right now.

***Update***February 10, 2020

There were some online posts about the increased levels of SO2 in the city of Wuhan and questions as to why these levels were so high and why virtually no other city showed such increased levels. In this article from Taiwan News, it lists a few possible explanations, including the mass burning of dead bodies, the mass burning of dead animals, or possibly the mass burning of medical waste products. So far, I have not seen any post about this on WeChat or heard any explanation or discussion about this from any official Chinese media source.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3874013

***Update*** February 11, 2020

These screenshots were taken from one of the social media accounts on WeChat.

I will say that at the moment of typing this, the overall feeling on social media within China (specifically in the groups that I am in on WeChat) is still one of trying to be positive and people feeling like the situation isn’t that bad, at least not here in Shanghai. I agree, in the sense that it does feel much different here than it does in other, more heavily affected cities. It seems like many people are more focused on discussing and debating the issue of hygiene. On the other hand, I am keeping my eyes and ears open for the continual updates and figures from sources inside and outside of China.

***Update***February 12, 2020

There seems to be another glitter of hope, according to this WeChat article posted today. In general, people here in Shanghai are feeling hopeful and optimistic about things getting better. I think this is particularly due to the fact that Shanghai has not implemented the kinds of draconian measures that some other nearby cities like Wenzhou and Hangzhou have.

On the flip side, I also received an anonymous message on a different app from some Chinese person who said they live in Suzhou and that it’s dangerous here and that I should get out. They said that Shanghai would eventually fall, just like Suzhou! Talk about your mixed messages. So the never-ending tennis match between positive and negative coverage continues.

The other day, I started to get a mild sore throat, and it continued into today. I asked about going to the private clinic that I usually go to downtown, but I was told that all clinics in Shanghai have been shut down for the rest of February, so hospitals are the only option currently. Luckily, the consultant that I chatted with set up an appointment for me to go to one of the international hospitals within my district. If I had to go to a public hospital, then I don’t think I would have gone. Public hospitals in China are not somewhere you want to be, and it’s best to avoid them if you can. Last year, when I had some impacted earwax that needed to be removed, I made the mistake of going to one, and I vowed never to put myself through that again.

Anyway, they took a blood test and a sinus swab to check for the coronavirus and any other potential flu. All came back negative; I had no viral infections. However, they told me that I did have a bacterial infection but that they couldn’t identify what it was due to the type of test done and that it would take a week to get the results from a separate culture. I decided not to bother with that and to just get started on the antibiotics.

So, that is where I am currently. It looks like I’ll be in self-quarantine for a bit longer.

***Update***February 13, 2020

Someone just posted this article from Taiwan News on Facebook. It talks about how China is now changing how it categorizes and lists its official infected patient numbers.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3874490?fbclid=IwAR1bY9KR_LSArgvckzqhDIHj-4v1ODJO9z40X5K_e6vjV8s0N4vC4mNaPfw

Relating to the numbers, there was an article also posted on Taiwan News from February 5 (the day before I first posted this blog entry) that I had missed. It talks about how the company Tencent may have “accidentally” released figures going back as early as January 26 that showed a much higher rate of confirmed cases and deaths but were later changed to numbers that were much lower. The article mentions the different speculations made as to what this means, including a possible coding problem, someone tampering with user browsers, or that someone was trying to leak the “real” numbers.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3871594

***Update***February 14, 2020 (Happy Valentine’s Day…………………yay)

***Update***February 16, 2020

Some more headlines from WeChat

***Update***February 17, 2020

The last several days, people have been asking and complaining about their VPNs not working well. It seems as though the government here might be trying harder to censor the internet in order to control the narrative. My VPN has been just so-so for the most part, but the last several days I too have noticed a slowdown, and I have to constantly switch servers.

***Update***February 21, 2020

Today, our school came by with a second round of supplies for us. This time, it seemed like they included more useful things.

Lately, whenever I try to use YouTube Video Converter, it seems to be deliberately not working for any video related to the coronavirus coverage. At first, I wasn’t sure, but after using the software successfully with non-virus-related content, it became clear that, indeed, YouTube does seem to be purposely not allowing videos with this subject to be converted.

***Update***February 23, 2020

More official daily updates from WeChat news articles.

***Update***February 26, 2020

***Update***March 6, 2020

Internet speeds lately have been awful—much slower than before for over a week now.

Updates on WeChat seem to no longer show much data about China. Instead, it is focusing on the rest of the world.

Below is a scenario that seems all too common here in China, where management and officials try to make it look like they are following the rules and laws, but they really aren’t.

***Update***March 9, 2020

This article does into some interesting detail as to the possible origins of this virus that has not been highly talked about.

Bioweapons Expert Speaks Out About Novel Coronavirus

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/03/08/dr-francis-boyle-bioterrorism.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20200308Z1&et_cid=DM478049&et_rid=825602647

***Update*** March 14, 2020

***Update*** March 21, 2020

This news clip talks about the possibility that China’s reported numbers are far lower than the actual number of cases.

At the 6:13 mark, she talks about the crematoriums that seemed to be running non-stop. This was also mentioned back on my February 10th update with the news article from the Taiwan Times, in which it talks about the increased levels of sulfur dioxide surrounding the Wuhan area compared to the surrounding areas.

***Update*** March 22, 2020

Another news clip discussing China’s official numbers not being accurate.

***Update*** March 23, 2020

These were posted on WeChat today. Lately, the CCP has continued to tout the story that they have conquered the virus and that any new infections are because of foreigners bringing it back. In addition to foreigners returning to China, there are also many Chinese nationals returning all together, which has caused massive backups at the major airports, such as Beijing.

It seems as though the discrimination tactics against foreigners that some foresaw are coming to fruition now.

***Update*** March 23, 2020

***Update*** March 25, 2020

Several videos talking about the emergence of the hantavirus in China.

I only found this next news clip today, even though it was originally posted on March 18, 2020. Though partisan, it sums up the timeline of events that led to the spread of the virus.

***Update*** March 27, 2020

And more news headlines from today…

More information regarding test accuracy.

***Update*** March 29, 2020

This was actually released on March 25 but I only saw it today.

***Update*** April 1, 2020

***Update*** April 2, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcKR1TwC20w

***Update*** April 3, 2020

I think this next one is quite significant!

This was a short piece about this man’s research into the origins of the virus. Although it’s short, I think his findings are very important, and there needs to be much more discussion about this since the media in China will never talk about it.

***Update*** April 4, 2020

***Update*** April 5, 2020

Some more headlines appearing in WeChat…

***Update*** April 7, 2020

Main points from the video:

• The Chinese regime is now calling for cooperation with the U.S. over the CCP virus. A Chinese defector says that’s a common diplomatic tactic used by the regime.

• Family members trying to honor those lost to the virus say they are afraid to bury the ashes as they aren’t those of loved ones. 
• Many Chinese businesses are protesting and demanding help from the regime for economic losses suffered during the outbreak. 
• An expert says video conferencing software Zoom is susceptible to the Chinese regime’s infiltration and can be used as a tool for gathering business intelligence. 
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now in intensive care. His condition worsened after testing positive 11 days ago. 
• States are gearing up to tackle a critical next two weeks in the fight against the CCP virus while the US death toll surpasses 10,000.

***Update*** April 9, 2020

Recently, there has been an uptick in the incidents of foreigners either being told that they cannot enter a certain establishment or even an actual fight. At this point, I have not been barred from any establishment, nor have people scurried away from me when I sit down on the subway (I’ve only taken the subway a few times in the past few months anyway, and it wasn’t crowded at all, so it’s hard to tell if it would have happened with more people).

But people have continued to post different incidents on WeChat. Below are some examples.