The focus of the virus in China has become a ghost town: "It's like an apocalypse"

An American-German student gets stuck in the city of Wuhan after failing to escape with the outbreak of the virus. After Washington did not save him a seat on the return flight, he hopes to reach the flight promised to him in Germany. "I hope I didn't do myself any bad luck"

The focus of the virus in China has become a ghost town: "It's like an apocalypse"

For nearly a week, 21-year-old American student Nicholas Schneider has been unsuccessfully trying to get out of Wuhan City, China, the focus of the quarantine virus outbreak.

Horrifying silence descended on the usually busy streets of the 11 million-city, where Schneider is studying Gaudia, a math branch, at Wuhan University, 16 miles from the animal trade market, where the virus is thought to have been created. There are barely people and cars. It's a strange feeling. I feel like I'm in the kind of apocalypse, "Schneider said in a conversation with Reuters.

China's authorities almost shut down the city on January 23 to slow the transmission of the virus, from which close to 7,700 people were infected, and 170 people died, all in China. Schneider, who holds American-German citizenship, was hoping to catch a train to get out of town that morning, but said his parents recommended he stay. "They said the train station was not the place to be at that time," he said. "So I decided to stay, and then I was scared for the first time because I didn't know what to do."

His parents urged him to stay in town. Nicholas Schneider (Photo: Reuters)

American student stuck in Wuhan city, China, January 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

He contacted German and American officials to leave the city. The United States Embassy offered him a $ 1,100 seat on a charter flight, but an embassy official told him he would have to get to an airport on the other side of town, 48 miles from where he was.

Because most of the modes of transport were disabled, he found no way to get to the flight, and a representative from the embassy told him his place would be given to someone else. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This is not how a distressed citizen is treated, she didn't seem to care," Schneider said. The flight departed from Wahan with 210 Americans and landed in California yesterday.

"People at higher risk of being infected with the virus have been prioritized: young children, adults and people with a health condition that puts them at higher risk," a State Department official said in a statement released in Mill.

Schneider, who spent most of his life in Germany, then contacted the German embassy, ​​which he said promised him a bus ride to the airport with several other students stranded and a place on the flight to depart for Germany on Saturday. The German government has not yet addressed the issue.

Until then, Schneid said, he would continue to hide in his room, leaving only to a nearby market to obtain fresh water and food. Upon departure, he plans to wear an NBA team hat for the Miami Heat, wear gloves and a thick cloth mask over his mouth and nose.

Hoping to leave the besieged city on Saturday, he said: "I hope I didn't do myself any bad luck."

Abandoned streets and hotel checks: a glimpse of life in the Chinese virus center

Ghost Town. Shops in Wuhan (Photo: Reuters)

Nocturnal streets in central Vaughan are closed following the Corona virus that hit the area on January 19, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)