Fear is also infectious: how coronavirus outbreak is unsettling a nation
- Deadly epidemic has people across the country heading for the safety of the countryside, or stockpiling supplies and battening down the hatches
- And a report of a train passenger with an upset stomach is enough to almost derail one woman on her way home for the holidays
Before packing up her car on Friday, 33-year-old Beijing resident Mo Ying sent a message to some friends on social media. It read: “I’m going into seclusion in the mountains.”
As more and more people became infected and the death toll rose, he decided it was time for the family – himself, Mo and their three-year-old son – to get away from the crowds.
So they packed up and drove to rural Huairou district, where they planned to spend the Lunar New Year holiday in a small flat they have there.
Mo said that in each village they passed through they saw notices in front of every building, alerting people of the epidemic.
But once away from the crowds, she said she felt much happier.
“It was so safe, we wouldn’t return to the city if I didn’t have to work on Sunday,” she said.