Miss.-Chinese wary of coronavirus

On a late-January flight from Shanghai to Starkville, Miss., Ronghua Wu lost a lot of sleep. The woman sitting next to him wouldn't stop coughing. Passengers were wearing masks, including himself. “The atmosphere on board was depressing," Wu told the Columbus Dispatch. He wore that mask about 24 hours … “but I never dared take it off." Wu, a visiting scholar in agriculture at Mississippi State University, had just returned home to family in China for the Lunar New Year. The coronavirus outbreak has claimed more than 1,500 lives. Wuhan, China is the center of the epidemic, and is on lockdown. Other local governments have shut down highways, delayed schools and imposed restrictions. Rural Chinese are generally less informed of the severity of the virus, he said, and masks are hard to come by. "There are 12 people in my family," Wu said. "We had only two masks ... for whoever went out and bought groceries." The sense of urgency followed Wu back to the U.S. Governments were advising China travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days. As of Feb. 14, 15 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the U.S.: None in Mississippi, but Wu still stayed home for two weeks after arriving in Starkville. "I think none of the Chinese really enjoyed the New Year this time," Wu said. Zhan "Samson" Sun, pastor at the Starkville Chinese Christian Church, said the church has seen fewer people since the outbreak. The spread of the virus has made everyone wary of gatherings, Sun said. (Source: Columbus Dispatch 02/16/20) https://cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=79397.