Risks rise in France, US
France, Germany, Spain and the US are considered countries where outbreaks are increasing in severity. Take France as an example. Cao Huaqin, a businessman from Fujian Province who lives in France, told the Global Times that he felt the outbreak would become more severe in France because the local control measures were not comprehensive.
“As far as I know, not many Chinese in France want to go back because of the epidemic. The Chinese here are also alert. Many have bought rice, water and daily necessities for three months and try not to go out,” Cao said. “Chinese people in France feel more confident that they can be cured once they get sick, so there has not been a situation [where many are returning home] like in Italy.”
Cao said not many Chinese in France have returned home recently for other reasons, as most have canceled unnecessary trips.
The Global Times contacted several Chinese nationals in the US including senior media representatives in California. They all said that they had not heard of people planning to return to China recently, as many flights have been canceled and they are also concerned they may be infected during flight.
The number of confirmed cases in the US has exceeded 150. Many people have questioned the testing ability and scope of the US CDC, and many experts suspect that the actual number of infected people is much higher than the published number.
California is the third US state to announce a state of emergency. Mr Wu who works in a large hospital in Los Angeles said Americans believe the coronavirus is just like the flu, while Chinese people are the most nervous group.
The US has limited ability to conduct nucleic acid testing, partly because they don’t have enough test kits and partly due to the expensive testing fee, said Wu.
When communicating with US doctors and health experts, Wu found that the risk of a large-scale outbreak in California is slim. Take Los Angeles as an example. The city’s urban layout is loose, residents drive more often than they walk and people have more space than in Beijing.
Chen Xi, an assistant professor of public health at Yale University, said as many countries enter the community transmission stage, risk evaluation simply based on where tourists come from is not enough.