Wuhan Expat Community Now Trapped As The Virus Spreads

Expats in Wuhan are now trapped as the city locks down.

The expat population in Wuhan has grown considerably over the past five years, as many foreigners have rejected China’s massive metropolises for the regional powerhouse. The city’s governing body has made helping foreigners integrate and get adjusted to their new lives a top priority, and the local expat community has grown as the word went round.

Sadly, expats and locals alike are now confined to the city as a total lockdown has been declared in the hope of holding back the spread of the new coronavirus. Wuhan’s four satellite cities are also under lockdown, and the annual celebration of the Chinese New Year is under wraps.

One female expat was visiting Wuhan when the news of the Sars-like virus hit social media and was picked up by news outlets worldwide. She’d heard a rumour about the shutdown, hurriedly booked a flight out and was sitting in the departure lounge watching as more and more cancellations and delays were announced. Eventually, her flight to Shanghai was called, and she escaped the eerily deserted megalopolis.

She’d heard from residents that the market where the infection originated sold fresh game and exotic animals including porcupines and live wolf pups, slaughtered in front of customers and likely to be the source of the initial infection. She’s now safely back in Shanghai, but Wuhan’s streets are deserted, fights are breaking out as supermarket shelves empty and the military are spraying disinfectant everywhere their hoses can reach. The deadly disease, she believes, may well be quarantined at its source, but it’s now alive and thriving in mega-cities across the world.