Ben Kavanaugh Gives Us Insight To Quarantined Life In Wuhan

Image credit: youtube.com and cbc.ca

With the number of people being affected by the novel Coronavirus, the city of Wuhan is officially on quarantine. As a result, residents have been told to stay at home and public transportation is halted. So what’s life like in a city under quarantine? Ben Kavanaugh gives us a little insight into his quarantined life in Wuhan.


Ben Kavanaugh in Wuhan
Image credit: youtube.com

Firstly let’s introduce the man in front of the camera. Ben Kavanaugh is an Irishman working in Wuhan as a teacher. There are currently five video diaries from him on YouTube.

Ben Kavanaugh in Wuhan

In his first video, he brings us along on his trip down to the shops to stock up on groceries. Because residents are not allowed out often, they need to stock up as much as possible in one go. Because of this, Ben and his friend bring along suitcases to fill up.

Throughout the video, he explains that the roads and streets are usually extremely busy. However, we can see that there is almost nobody around him. There are also very few cars on the road as everyone is at home.

 

His next video is about how he spends his birthday all alone in his apartment with a can of beer. This truly gives insight to how lonely some of the Wuhan residents can be. During this time of difficulty, some family members have even been outcasted for fear that they are infected.

Meanwhile, his third video provides answers to some questions that many of us may have. These include ‘What is China doing in terms of sanitation?’, ‘Are you anxious about exposure?’, and ‘How are people within Wuhan reacting to this?’.

Here he shares about how sanitation is being prioritised by the government and how he isn’t anxious about exposure. However, in his videos you will see that he does take necessary precaution. He also talks about how residents in Wuhan have been encouraging each other by shouting “Jia You” from their apartments.

An Evacuation Plan

Moving on, in his fourth video he explains about possible evacuation for him by the Irish and British government. He also explains the process of evacuation in such a situation. Firstly, everyone on the flight will be flown to a Royal Air Forces (RAF) base. Here they will be quarantined for two weeks before rejoining society. This will ensure that nobody is infected and that the virus will not spread to others.

Lastly, the final video shows Ben finally being evacuated. Everyone who is part of the flight must undergo procedures and sign paperwork. The video ends just before he enters the plane.

This is a great video diaries series as it truly shows the conditions of Wuhan during these troubling times. Seeing for ourselves the situation there and hearing from someone in the city is a new take. Furthermore, Ben is not very worried about being infected and seems to be very calm. We hope the series will continue while he is in quarantine!