THE DARK CORONA

SYMPTOMS FOR THE STEALTH VIRUS CAN TAKE UP TO 14 DAYS TO SHOW UP. BUT IT’S CONTAGIOUS DURING THIS TIME. IS OUR PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM READY TO HANDLE A POSSIBLE EPIDEMIC?

- Amarnath K. Menon and Sonali Acharjee

On January 31, as a special Air India flight evacuated 324 Indians from Wuhan, Monika Sethuraman, 31, broke down in tears realising that she wouldn’t be on the plane. “I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds...I am stuck here in the city, and it’s now turned into a huge prison,” she says over the phone from her one-room dormitory. The doctoral scholar in international relations at Wuhan’s Central China Normal University had been instrumental in contacting the Indian embassy and arranging the evacuation of fellow Indians following an outbreak of the new novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

For Sethuraman herself, leaving Wuhan won’t be easy now. “I didn’t go to the airport because I knew I would not be cleared for the flight out. Even if I recover from the cold, once you are on the blacklist, you will not be allowed to fly out,” she laments. Since the transport lockdown on January 23, Sethuraman has stocked up on essentials. According to her, stepping out is futile. One will be spotted by a drone, the building security cameras or police, and sent back indoors. “The authorities aren’t interested in testing or verifying if you have the virus. They are only interested in control... it doesn’t matter if we live or die so as long as the virus is contained,” she says. “I am following WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines, but there is no human interface to connect to. If people see you wiping your nose, they run from you, including the officials. That’s the kind of panic and desperation here.”