Coronavirus outbreak: Voices from China

The march of the coronavirus has shown little signs of stopping. The virus has sickened at least 64,440 people and killed 1,380 worldwide since the outbreak was first reported in late December. But while the disease’s footprint has spread to over 24 countries, its toll has been concentrated in mainland China, where all except 3 deaths have been reported. For many people living in the heart of the epidemic, fending off the virus remains a priority. As whole cities are sealed off and public transportation shut down, millions of people have no choice but to stay home, wondering how much more damage the coronavirus will cause before it ends – if it ends. Their experience is almost without preced

Isolated, and sometimes shunned, the central Chinese province of Hubei is the ground zero of the coronavirus outbreak. It accounts for some 74% of more than 43,000 people sickened globally by a disease that causes fever and cough and, in severe cases, pneumonia or death. For those who have contracted the coronavirus, they wake each day hoping it’s their turn for treatment in a public health system inundated by patients and staffed with exhausted doctors and nurses. For healthy families, staying home has become the best defense. Every outside contact seems potentially deadly. About one in 20 people who tested positive for the virus in the provincial capital of Wuhan has died. Every outdoor tr