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RI students trapped in Wuhan want to go home
Dead city: The streets of Wuhan, Hubei province, China, are empty on Sunday, the second day after the Lunar New Year, after the Wuhan city government announced a ban on nonessential vehicles in the downtown area to contain a new coronavirus outbreak
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ead city: The streets of Wuhan, Hubei province, China, are empty on Sunday, the second day after the Lunar New Year, after the Wuhan city government announced a ban on nonessential vehicles in the downtown area to contain a new coronavirus outbreak. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
Indonesian nationals trapped in the locked-down city of Wuhan, China, where the deadly coronavirus first emerged, have expressed hope that they will be allowed to leave the country amid the outbreak.
Fitriani, a 25-year-old master's student at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, said she hoped she could be relocated to a safer region or return to Indonesia before the outbreak worsens.
"I didn't plan on returning to Indonesia during this winter break. However, I started to think of going home when the virus reportedly infected 198 people by Jan. 21, but the city has been locked down since Jan. 23," Fitriani told The Jakarta Post via text message on Saturday.
Fitriani is among the 100 Indonesian citizens, a majority of them students, trapped in Wuhan since the Chinese government shut down travel out of the epicenter of the viral outbreak on Thursday, according to the chairman of the Wuhan branch of the Indonesian Student Association in China (PPIT Wuhan), Nur Musyafak.
The Chinese government has halted all travel from and toward Wuhan, shut down its public transportation and told residents to stay home, AFP reported, adding that 17 other smaller cities in Hubei province prepared various measures ranging from closing public venues and restricting large gatherings to halting public transportation and asking citizens not to leave their cities.
There were about 200 Indonesian nationals in Wuhan, Nur of PPIT Wuhan said, adding that many of them had returned to Indonesia for the Lunar New Year holiday, which usually lasted until mid-February.
Fitriani, who lives in her university's dormitory with five other Indonesian students, said she would not leave her dorm unless necessary. Her dorm set up thermal scanners to monitor students' body temperatures on Jan. 22, she added.
The last time she went out was to buy groceries at a nearby traditional market that was now temporarily closed as some sellers feared the coronavirus. She said she had stocked up on food for the next week, as suggested by Chinese authorities.
"The prices of vegetables and fruits have gone up, from 5 Chinese renminbi per 500 grams to 30 renminbi per 500 gr. I had no other choice but to buy them as I need them," Fitriani said.
Fitriani, who has been in Wuhan since September, talked about how unusually quiet the streets had become as she only spotted a few private vehicles and people wearing facial masks.
Another China University of Geosciences student in Wuhan, Rio Alfi, 35, said he initially had plans to return home to Pekanbaru, Riau, along with his wife and son before the lockdown was announced.
He said that although he had stored groceries for the coming week, he could not help but worry as prices of commodities had gone up while food stocks being sold had declined, leading people to scramble to get the commodities at a supermarket he had gone to.
"We're waiting for what's next because it's been three days since the lockdown. Psychologically speaking, it's pretty tough for us here in Wuhan. The student association and the Indonesian Embassy have coordinated and are monitoring the situation. However, there's been no decision yet as to whether we'll be evacuated out of Wuhan or receive assistance over supplies," Rio told the Post via text message on Saturday.
Rio, who has been studying in Wuhan since 2016, said that this year's Lunar New Year was different as fewer people were praying for their ancestors at cemeteries.
AFP reported that the Chinese army had deployed medical specialists to Wuhan on Saturday as hospitals bustled with patients, adding that authorities began building a new field hospital in Wuhan to deal with the outbreak.
The coronavirus, which bears similarities to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), had killed 56 people as of Sunday in China and spread around the world, including Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, as confirmed infections surged to more than 1,900 people, various sources reported. At least 52 people have now died in total in Hubei, the province where Wuhan is located.
Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun said the embassy was in close contact with Indonesian citizens through Chinese messaging app WeChat.
"We're constantly in contact with them. There is a coordinator appointed in each campus' dormitory. So far, from the information that we've received, their food stocks still suffice," he told the Post on Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry is now examining whether to relocate Indonesian citizens and diplomats amid an escalation of the outbreak.
Spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said on Sunday that Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi had instructed the ministry’s high-ranking officials to talk with Indonesian missions in China about recent updates and available options.
The decision would be made after collecting input from inter-ministerial discussions, mainly with the Health Ministry, Faizasyah said.
