Corona virus: I saw Chinese people in Nigeria

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Since our television and newspapers have been full of stories about Corona virus, a deadly virus that is reported to have originated in Wuhan, China and has no cure, many people in Nigeria including me have always looked at it as a foreign affairs and not likely to reach Nigeria any time soon and even if it does, chances are that it won't last long. Afterall, we have survived Ebola virus, lassa fever and even HIV.

Anyway, I've been listening to a lot of news reports about it and how Chinese people have been protecting themselves by wearing nose and face masks, I never knew that I would soon meet real life Chinese people in Nigeria pretty soon.

Well, I was at a shopping mall recently in Lagos Nigeria and while I was going out of a store, I noticed that there was a Chinese family standing outside the store all wearing nose masks like I saw in the news. The next thing that came to my mind was Chai! Corona virus

I stood still a bit and was wondering if they were about to enter the shop or not so that I would go the other way and not have to pass by them. I figured if they followed the entry door, I would follow the exit and vice versa but they just stood there all wearing their nose masks. I hear nose masks are now scarce in China as many companies are now producing them trying to meet growing demand as the government has even made e it mandatory for everyone to wear them in public. The nose masks that most of them wear are the one time use only masks which gets discarded after a day or single use.

I like the Chinese people for being so obedient to their govt even when they are outside China. Look at Nigerians, especially the Okada and keke drivers in Lagos who were told to not go through certain routes and bridges, they are already breaking the law one week after it came to bd. We in Nigeria are not as obedient to our govt as the Chinese are.

Anyway, after I saw the nose masks wearing Chinese people standing outside, I had to quickly rich out of the storr, avoiding them so as to not have to catch a virus named Corona because I'm not sure why Hospital in Nigeria will be able to save me if it catches me.

I wonder what will happen if the virus eventually comes to Nigeria. There are many Nigerians who travel to China for business andnow, some of them have stopped travelling because they love their lives more than the business. More and more Nigerians have even stopped ordering goods from China from their friends or from websites like Alibaba and Aliexpress because they fear that those goods may be carrying Corona virus in them. I won't blame them because it is only a wise thing to protect yourself than good to get a cure after you have been infected.

The Chinese govt is doing well to protect their people by providing health and safety tips as well as equipping hospitals and pharmacies with tools to prevent the spread of the virus. I'm not sure if the Nigerian govt would be able to handle it as well. How many nose masks do we have in Nigeria and how many people will be able to avoid it if we have an epidemic like that? Only God will save us.

The reason why I panicked when I saw Chinese people was because I don't get to see them often in the area where I stay and when you now see them after all the alarm over Corona, you have to be just careful. I don't have Chinese people but since this Corona thing started, I will keep on avoiding them.

Posted by Felix Okoli on Sunday February 9, 2020 at 18:13:53: