Fearful of coronavirus, Edmonton family opts for self-imposed isolation

Eleven-year-old Winnie Feng can't wait until her self-imposed quarantine is over.

Feng and her father Mark haven't left their family home in Edmonton since Feb. 6 since returning home from China, where the deadly coronavirus continues to spread.

Their voluntary isolation will end Thursday. 

"I did a little bit of cooking with my dad and I did some jogging on the treadmill," Winnie said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM. 

"I'm kind of bored at home so I usually go on my electronics, texting friends, but they're not really worried because I told them I'm OK. No symptoms." 

Winnie and her father did not travel to Wuhan — the epicentre of the COVID-19 virus — but spent their trip in the Jiangxi province in central China, around 600 kilometres away. 

Even so, the family decided a 14-day voluntary isolation period was a necessary precaution. Winnie's mom Emily Zhou, who did not travel to China, has been staying in a separate apartment while her family is in self-quarantine at home. 

"I'm worried," Zhou said. "The way you fly home from China, you come into contact with many people, especially when you sit in the airplane. 

"It's a closed space and there are many people you don't know, you don't know where they come from. Are they sick or not?"

We don't have medicine for this virus. We don't have medicine to prevent it.- Emily Zhou

About 70 Edmontonians are in self-imposed quarantine, Zhou said. She is working with a group of volunteers called Isolation 4 Love who have been helping deliver the necessary meals and supplies. 

"This virus spreads very fast and has caused people's death and nobody knows this virus, it's a new one, just like SARS. And people are scared because they don't know it.

"We don't have medicine for this virus. We don't have medicine to prevent it." 

China announced an outbreak of a mysterious pneumonia in the city of Wuhan on Dec. 31. 

At the time, Zhou assumed it was nothing more than the seasonal flu and the family forged ahead with their plans to celebrate the new year with extended family.

Since then the number of deaths in mainland China has reached 1,868 and the total number of confirmed cases to 72,436.

"After they got ... to China, only two days later, they shut down Wuhan city and everyone realized this situation is getting serious," Zhou said. 

'People are scared' 

Wuhan and its surrounding cities in Hubei province have accounted for the vast majority of infections and deaths. The Chinese government is enforcing a travel ban that has spread to other parts of the country and now includes a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine period for anyone travelling outside their home district.

With fears of the virus spreading further, Chinese citizens and residents of nearby countries and territories have begun hoarding supplies of everything from masks and other personal protective gear to instant noodles, cooking oil and toilet paper.

Two new prefabricated hospitals have been built to deal with the overflow in Wuhan and thousands of medical staff have been brought in from other parts of the country to help.

As of Feb. 16, eight cases of the virus have been confirmed in Canada — three in Ontario, five in B.C. 

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Zhou lived in Beijing during the 2003 SARS outbreak which killed 349 people in mainland China. She said she didn't want to take any chances with the health of her family. 

During the SARS outbreak she couldn't leave for her home for weeks and had to quit her job when her son's school shut down. 

It was a frightening time, she said. And coronavirus, she said, seems just as bad. 

"I hope it's not like SARS. I hope it's lighter and we can control it ... but many, many different [pieces of] information that I'm getting are making me so worried. 

"We don't know the truth now because there is too much information. Lots of rumours. All we can do is protect ourselves and try to stave away those worries."