How bad are Chinese nationals behaving in light of the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic they’re facing, and the quarantines that had been put in place?
Apparently, they’ve gone on to allegedly abandoning children at airports now.
A three hour flight delay while parents argue and physically block the gate
Reports of an incident in a Chinese airport have surfaced about children allegedly left behind by their parents after one of them was seen to have a fever. This is in connection to the regional quarantine in effect that barred transport from several cities in China.
In a report, a Chinese blogger uploaded photos of what looked like an airport delay in China, with several passengers lined up to board but waiting for something, and another photo of two children with their faces blurred out, waiting on some airport benches.
The family was trying to get from Nanjing to Changsha with flight MF8040 operated by Xiamen Airlines.
Everything you need to know about the Wuhan coronavirus is here.
Reports said that the photo of the two children was snapped at Nanjiang airport in Wuhan, where airport officials barred one child from getting on the plane. The parents argued with officials, saying that the rest of the family of four were not sick, so they should be all allowed to board.
This argument resulted in a three hour delay, which ended in the unthinkable.
The parents boarded the flight, and allegedly told the children to sit down on one of the airport benches and wait, leaving them alone. Some reports said that the kids were left alone and that airport workers were tending to them.
Reports said that parents called the airport’s bluff
Further reports said that witnesses to the event that the boy had a 38.5 degree fever, and one witness said, ‘The airline company did not allow [the boy] to board the plane, but the children’s parents would not agree.”
The parents then literally blocked the boarding gate, and left the children to wait, while they argued.
Eventually, police arrived to mediate between the parents and the airline officials.
Here’s what happened when SARS spread all over Singapore.
The couple were then allowed boarded the plane, and the children were allegedly left to just wait, which initially appeared like the kids were abandoned.
But the kids were eventually let on the plane, but some passengers were concerned over the presence of a sick child with Wuhan coronavirus symptoms, even if it were not a confirmed case. The children were seated towards the front of the cabin.
33 million people quarantined and transportation stopped
As the virus spread to thousands all over mainland China, Chinese officials have declared a quarantine over large areas, encompassing around ten cities. 33 million people are said to be within the borders of the quarantine.
While official reports said that the number of infected as more than 830 all over the world, health experts believe the actual number could be more than 10,000 with a fatality of 2 in 100 infected.
As of publishing, there are three confirmed cases of the virus in Singapore, with two men from the same family and another 53-year-old woman who arrived without symptoms then presented them on January 21.
She was confirmed to have the disease on January 24.
