Since Wuhan found itself at the heart of the spread of a virus just as contagious and even more deadly than SARS, the city has the air of a ghost town. In this metropolis quarantined and deserted by the wealthiest populations as well as expatriates who have been able to reach their native country, those who remain are for some there by choice. For others, much more by constraint.
Andréa, a young French graduate in management, could have taken place in one of the two planes chartered by Paris to repatriate her nationals before placing them in quarantine, but she did not wish to leave Wuhan, "her second home", where she studied last year. After spending the holiday season there, while the virus was starting to spread, she chose to stay there.
French people who have chosen solidarity
"I knew people on the spot, and then a solidarity between French nationals was established", tells the Parisian Andréa, who says he stayed to lend a hand to the population. She is responsible for finding protective equipment against the virus, because the city and especially hospitals are in great shortage. "I almost have no more masks, which means that I may soon be unable to go out," breathes Andrea.
The question of a hasty departure has not in the least touched on Dr. Philippe Klein. Quite the contrary. He will be "the last French in town", assured AFP this doctor who refutes any "heroic act". "My job here is to help foreigners," said the Frenchman, who nonetheless recommended that all French nationals leave the country.
"My daughter does not have a passport yet"
In the midst of the ballet of backhoe loaders which set up two new hospitals in emergency to cope with the innumerable patients, these inhabitants share an extraordinary daily life, punctuated by the rare outings in town, the emerging shortages in stores and especially the fear more or less stubborn to contract coronavirus 2019-nCov, which has already killed more than 360 people in the country.
Several states, including France, Japan, the United States, and even Australia have chartered planes to repatriate their nationals as well as those of other nationalities (Mexico, Rwanda, Brazil, Georgia, etc.). But Katelin, an American who gave birth to a baby girl six weeks ago, was unable to take part in any of these thefts.
"I had to stay here because my daughter does not yet have a passport and the authorities refused to allow my husband, who is Chinese, to have an emergency visa until the end of the epidemic. There was no question that I would leave without them, ”explains to the Parisian this young woman who says she feels abandoned by her native country. "We are quite worried because there are few food reserves around my house and we no longer have diapers for my daughter," says the young mother. It’s pretty sad everyday. I haven't been out since the start of the epidemic and my husband only goes out if we really need something. "
"We don't count enough"
The feeling of neglect is the same for Nigel, a British engineer who moved to Wuhan at the start of the year. He didn't leave town either. "It all happened so quickly that most expatriates did not have time to organize," said the man, who worked for 10 years in China. "The response from our governments is so slow that we have little choice but to stay here and wait," he said. Distrustful, Nigel did not even try to request a repatriation, persuaded to receive a negative response, because for the moment, the situation is unclear. According to media across the Channel, the plane that was to repatriate 200 Britons on Thursday could not take off due to lack of authorization from Beijing.
“We don't count enough. So I prefer to stay and support my friends from Wuhan. We will overcome this storm together ”, swears Nigel, whose daily life has been somewhat altered in recent days. "We get up, we think about breakfast, where to find something to eat, then we put on a mask, we look for the nearest supermarket and we try to avoid close contact," says the engineer.
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John had the opportunity to evacuate Wuhan, where he has lived for three years, on a British plane, as much as Australian, his two nationalities. But this consultant married to a city dweller did not think about it for a moment. “I feel concerned, but not panicked. Compared to the population, the number of people infected remains very low, "said John, who said he had" full confidence in the measures taken by China to contain the virus. "
He follows the rules of quarantine by disinfecting his house and says he is ready to last two months if necessary. Even if the daily life is heavy. “We only go outside to take out the trash or collect the food ordered online. Social media allows us to stay in touch with the rest of the world. "
Students stranded
Some groups of expatriates, however, had no choice but to stay put, due to the lack of a solution proposed by their governments. Ethiopian and Pakistani students have been appealing for several days to their embassies to repatriate them. In vain.
"We did not have the chance to leave Wuhan when students of all other nationalities have already left," rages Mohammad Mohsi, a Pakistani medical student. He said he was helpless, faced with the lack of masks and protections against this virus for several days. While more than 500 Pakistani students are currently in Wuhan, their government has indicated that it does not plan to repatriate them, in "solidarity" to China.
Mohammad Mohsi cannot believe it. “I was already there during the SARS epidemic and things are not going better today. The stores are either already closed or almost empty. Yesterday, I had to wait an hour to pay for my shopping… There was a huge crowd. This increases our risk of being infected. ”
Coronavirus: 5 things to know about the repatriation of the French from Wuhan