China, Coronavirus, World War Z in real life?

The mega city of Wuhan China. Located in the Hubei province, Wuhan is home to 11 million residents and is a major transportation hub that connects China since its centrally loated. Photo by France24.

Since January 22nd, when  Chinese media began announced to the wider world cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus emerging in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a metropolis of 11 million people in the Hubei Province, the world has been rightfully so panicked and nerve reck over the newest global virus outbreak. The virus intially appeared in Wuhan's popular sea food market in December 2019. The total now is up to 350 dead and some 100,000 infected people in China and around the world. The virus was said to have originally spread from Wuhan's local sea food market in December. Wuhan has been sealed off and its residents sent indoors for two weeks. Now 55 million people in Hubei and neighboring provinances have also been quqarantined with no exceptions made. Mongolia has closed its southern border to China and have evacuated its citizens from China. The Chinese government has not reported on the exact number of infected people or deaths in real time in hope of keeping its own citizens calm. Coranavirus symptoms are flu like but more mild and severe. The virus has picked up speed with the rate of its infection which shows no visible signs until 4 to 5 days after the person is infected. It's reminisct of the 1918 Spanish flu and the global and public panic it caused. Add to the fact that Wuhan is the transportation hub for millions of people traveling across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan for the Lunar New Year, airplanes, trains and cars will become petrie dishes for the diseases to not only spread but incubate in multiple people which can be passed person to person. Most of China's 31 provinces have infection cases already. Hong Kong which has been experiencing an almost year long street protests, have closed its border off from mainland China and have stopped the usual ferry services from Shenzhen, the Chinese city closest to HK border and flight services. Even the bridge which connects HK to the Casino island of Macau has been sealed from ordinay Hong Kongers. The financial markets have dropped following the World Health Organization's declaration of the Coronavirus as a public health emergency. The WHO has been blasted by national governments, health centers, ordinary people who have been following the spread for hesistating to announce the virus as public threat two weeks ago.












 Ordinary people including travelers are comparing the ongoing speed of the Coronavirus spread to various Zombie movies ie World War Z, Contagion, Train to Busan, The Crazies, Resident Evil, Rec series and the video the Dying Light. Netflix released a new docuseries, Pandemic outbreak, 11 days ago on originas and how to manage global pandemics just as the Coronavirus was making headlines around the world. It's either coincidental or good timing. The online strategy game Plague, Inc which lets players create and features fictionalized viruses and diseases outbreaks in real time within the game has seen sales and interests in the game soar. Mostly Chinese gamers are using Plague Inc to better understand how the Coronavirus which is featured in the game spread in real time and how to find a vaccine. The rate of infection is reminsct of the plot of the popular zombie movie World War Z which is based on the popular novel World War Z: an Oral history. There is also a video game. Unlike most zombie films, WWZ's story takes a realistic approach to a near future outbreak on a grand scale. The main protagnoist, Gerry Lane (played by Brad Pitt) a UN invesitgator working with WHO witnesses the global zombie plague firsthand that effects some 90% of the world. There are a few survivors (Gerry among them) who manage to avoid infection but have to manuver around a zombified world where its difficult to tell who the infected are at first. In the film, the origin of the virus was said to be in Asia specifically Korea.

Fear of the infected, travel bans

Neighboring countries are taking no chances. In the Phillipines, Royal Carribean cruise with some 4,000 passengers was stopped from docking at the port of Subic Bay, after the Subic Bay Metropolitian Authority placed the port and larger city on high alert for travelers coming from China and neigboring countries. Some 6,000 cruise passengers on Costa cruises in Italy were quarantined on Janaury 30 after a woman became ill. In Lagos, Nigeria, airport authorities and health officials are also quarantining and checking passengers for the virus. There are already rising reports of multiple people being infected with the Coronavirus in Phillipines, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, France, UK, Toronto and Ontario province in Canada, US and Italy. and now even Kenya which has a small but growing Chinese community. One person has died in the Phillipines from the virus. The countries mentioned all have centuries old Chinese disapora known locally as Overseas Chinese populations that hold significant influences in their respective home countries. The major American airlines Delta, United and American Airlines have suspended flights between the United States and China for the first time. Canada, the UK and Australia have also suspended and scaled back flights from mainland China. Trinidad and Tobago are banning flights to China and restricting Chinese visitors to the island country for two weeks while the government  monitors the situation. Egypt Air and British airways have also suspended flights from and to China for a month.


There are also hundreds of foreign nationals and tourists still stuck in Wuhan due to the ongoing quarantine not only in the city but Hubei province. Most governments are gradually evacuating their citizens from across China and are quaranting them upon their return to their respective countries.

 



This is the third coronavirus outbreak originating from China. In 2003, the SARS epidemic sent the world panicking. However, health organizations, local doctors and a mass media campaign of both fear and knwoeldge of prevention helped to halt and eventually stopped the sprea SARS. Just when the fear of SARS was lifted than H1N1 flu known colloquially as bird flu in the english speaking countries, also sent a secondory panick that ebbed once the virus was contained via vaccination. With this third outbreak named Wuhan Coronavirus, there is no vaccine as of yet. Unlike SARS and H1N1 that were contained within China, this third virus has physically gone global. Chinese doctors and health organizations have been racing to find a cure. The Chinese government has been able to complete the recent construction (which took 10 days) of a modular hospital to help over a 1,000 infected in Wuhan. The construction took hundreds of construction workers and a near 24 hour work day to complete. The structural soundness of the new Huoshenshan Hospital will be inspected later as the government's priority is to build a second hospital all the while keeping the larger Chinese society calm to avoid massive protests and unrest similiar to Hong Kong in response to the fear and slow response and underreportage of the true numbers. The Coronavirus outbreak is ongoing as of this article. More posts to come.