Lebanese recounts debunking Wuhan rumors
Wuhan is facing a terrible situation, but the country is still full of confidence
BEIJING (China Daily) — At midnight on 22 January last year, Adham Sayed, a Lebanese student studying at a university in Wuhan, Hubei province, received an email informing him of the lockdown due to be imposed in the city the next day.
Sayed, who is studying for a doctorate in quantitative economics at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, did not comply with the request.
“I had no inclination to go home. I just naturally stayed,” he said.
Working from his four-room apartment, Sayed discovered that rumors directed at Wuhan were being spread on social media platforms overseas. Some of the messages even contained false video footage, blaming Wuhan residents for eating bats that caused the outbreak.
Sayed, who was shocked by the rumors, said, “I have lived in Wuhan for five years and I have never seen a single restaurant that cooks bats, or any market that sells them.”
On 28 January, he decided to hit back at the rumors by posting news about the situation in Wuhan on his Facebook account. The information was released in Arabic.
“Wuhan is facing a terrible situation, but the country is still full of confidence. We have ample food and no pricing monopoly. The big supermarkets are operating smoothly to ensure daily food supplies. I am a foreign student, but I feel as if I am a citizen of the nation. My university has taken good care of me,” Sayed posted.
“Life has changed, but everything is going smoothly. The government is doing its job and the whole nation is supporting Wuhan. I am honored to fight together with those who neither discriminate against us, nor forget us. Victory belongs to us.”