Gambian students in Wuhan, China’s epicentre for the coronavirus epidemic said they are “grateful” for the financial support, but need more from their government as authorities tighten city’s lockdown.
More than half a billion dalasi (73500 RMB of China’s currency) was distributed to twenty-four students living within and around Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei Province, on February 11.
Each student in the most affected areas of the deadly respiratory illness, received more than D22, 000 (3062.50 RMB) as support for upkeep through the Gambian embassy in Beijing.
“The figure may sound big in The Gambia, but for some of us, it is less than our monthly stipend,” a Gambian student in Wuhan, who asked not to be named, said on Sunday. “But it will be helpful for the time being, and I am really grateful for the support.”
Depending on the level one is studying, monthly stipend for African students on Chinese government scholarship is between 3000 and 3500 RMB. Some African students involved in research receive additional payments from their institutions of studies.
The money was sent to the Gambia Students’ Association in Beijing for onward distribution, a week after Mansa Banko Online published an in-depth report on the living conditions of Gambians in coronavirus epicentre, Wuhan.
However, the students said such financial support from their government shouldn’t be a one-off. Food is costly. “It doesn’t mean that we will be abandoned until who knows when,” one student said by phone.
Ebrima Barry, an undergraduate student of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, who stays in a dorm at his university, said the sum would serve him for more than a month. His Central China Normal University provides three meals a day to students in campus.
But another Gambian student who is staying off-campus said the money received would serve less than a month. Nonetheless, stipends have been paid for January and for some, their February stipends have also been paid. One student staying off-campus said he is informed of a possible delay in payment of stipend for February. Banks are closed.
No human contact
No Gambian citizen is reported to have been infected with the virus yet, but there are still fears of risk of infection among the small student population in Wuhan.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in December last year, more than 2, 200 people have died from the illness, and nearly 80,000 are known to have been infected in China alone as of February 21.
City authorities in Wuhan are implementing a stricter lockdown by discouraging direct contact among people in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. More cases are being recorded on a daily basis.
In the early days of the outbreak, residents in Wuhan were able to go shopping or move about within the premises of their houses, but that is now “totally prohibited”, a student, who now relies on city volunteers to deliver food ordered online, said.
He has access to vegetables, fruits, bread, and milk, but not coffee and sugar.
“A volunteer will bring the food to your doorsteps and placed the bags – you will pick it up when he or she leaves – there is no human interaction,” the student said. “I have not seen a human [being] for several days; talk less of interacting with someone.”
Painful and torturing
In order to avoid contracting the coronavirus, Gambians in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, stay indoors, and follow strict hygienic rules like washing hands with antiseptic soap, using disinfectants on doorknobs, and avoiding touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
See also: What’s life like for Gambians in Coronavirus Epicentre, Wuhan?
There have been mixed views among the Gambian students as to what is the best solution to their situation.
Some of the students want “more financial support” because things are getting expensive especially for those living outside university campuses, Barry said by phone from his dorm. Some students are yearning for possible evacuation out of the coronavirus epicentre.
“No one has an idea when this situation will end,” he said.
Barry maintains that he wouldn’t want to call for an evacuation to The Gambia. He fears Gambia’s health system may not be equipped enough to contain an eventual outbreak should someone bring along the virus into the country. “Let the authorities analyse the situation and do what is best for us,” he said.
But the graduate student, who spoke to Mansa Banko Online earlier this month, wants out of the coronavirus-hit areas.
“Honestly, if there was any way that they [the government] could get me out of here… that is what I prefer because the situation here is uncertain,” he said. “It is just so painful and mentally torturing.”
Many countries have already evacuated their citizens from Wuhan. Some North African students from Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, and Tunisia, and citizens of Seychelles are known to have been evacuated from Wuhan. There are more than 4, 600 African students in Wuhan.
The Gambia government has no plans yet to airlift Gambians out of Wuhan, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. “We are hopeful that the situation will be contained in the soonest possible time,” its spokesman Saikou Ceesay said.
Infected with pneumonia
In mid-December last year, some workers at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan were reportedly infected with “pneumonia” with no clear causes.
But Chinese scientists eventually linked the pneumonia to a new strain of coronavirus named novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
The first case of death from the virus was reported in Wuhan on January 10, and by January 22, the new coronavirus had spread to major cities and provinces in China.
Several cases have been reported in several countries and territories outside mainland China, with deaths recorded in Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Iran, the Philippines and South Korea.
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses including the less severe common cold, and the deadly the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
(Updated to include information on evacuation of Africans and number of African students in 23rd paragraph. Replaced “reported” with “recorded” and adds Italy, Japan, and South Korea in penultimate paragraph. Adds final paragraph).
