Hankou: SARS or Flu?

My original plan was to give myself a two-day holiday and go to the house we rented outside of the university with Rodger, then I would celebrate the Chinese New Year with a Chinese family like in previous years.

It had been normal during the day, but the atmosphere became tense at night. January 22 was the longest night I had since I came to China. At 6 o'clock, I was leaving the library. Then I saw library security officers with sanitizing tools and disinfectant coming to the fifth floor where I normally study. I admit that I was shocked. Previously I had heard there was a virus spreading in some communities. However, in the past, we joked and teased each other with the news. But when someone heard the gossip that Wuhan may have a lockdown, for the first time I felt scared. As it meant it had become very serious.

On the way to the holiday house, many questions came to my mind:since New Year's Day, I haven't left the school. I wondered what had happened outside of the school—Would Wuhan have a lockdown?Once the lockdown started when would it end? What exactly was the spread of the virus? The school distributes anti-epidemic and disinfectant products to us, does it indicate that we must wear a mask for a long time and wash our hands with disinfectant?

All these questions bothered me. Although I heard about a virus in this city a month ago, I didn't take it very seriously. This is new, and I have never had the knowledge and experience to deal with the spread of viruses before.

I recalled a previous conversation with my Lebanese companion Naeem.

It was on December 31, 2019, and we were discussing the New Year's Eve activities. Naeem said to me, “If you are coming to our side tonight,you have to wear a mask because there are cases of virus infection in my area.”

Naeem lives in the Hankou area of Wuhan and his girlfriend Salma is studying in the medical department of our school. Tongji Hospital, the affiliated hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology,happens to be located in Hankou area. He told me, “It is said that the infected people were taken to the hospital where Salma was an intern.”

The Hankou District of Wuhan is one of the most important and oldest areas in the city. The name of Wuhan is derived from the names of the area and two other districts: Wuchang and Hanyang. The area of about 2.5 square kilometers of the Hankou River Beach is a holiday destination for Chinese and foreign tourists. This area is famous for its Western style,and various foreign buildings, which is comparable to the buildings on the Bund in Shanghai. These buildings were built in the colonial era. The colonial countries such as Britain, France and Russia divided concessions here, established consulates, financial institutions, etc., leaving behind beautiful buildings in different periods, countries and styles. In addition,there is the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, the largest road and rail bridge in the city. This bridge was one of the Soviet aid projects to China and was officially opened to traffic in 1957. Today, this bridge across the Yangtze River is one of the important historical landmarks in Wuhan and is known as the “first bridge across the Yangtze River”.

On the morning of December 31, on the way to Hankou with my Chinese friend Mei, who runs a children's English training center, she told me that someone in Hankou was infected with an unknown virus. At that time, they thought that this virus might be a new outbreak of the SARS virus that was raging in China before, or it was just a seasonal flu, or it might be a new and unknown virus. Anyway, she suggested that I wear a medical surgical mask when taking the subway.

In fact, since that day, in order to prevent infection, I began to wear masks everywhere every day. I have never rejected wearing a mask because of various excuses. When I was very young, I worked with my father. He is a painter and needs to use a thinner to melt the material used to paint the walls. These materials will give off a pungent smell after dissolving,which is harmful to the respiratory system, so my father asked me to wear a mask.