The once crowded supermarket in Wuhan city, Hubei province is now almost empty due to fear of the pneumonia epidemic.
`Everyone is scared. Afraid to meet anyone. You don’t even want to go to the supermarket and touch the products you buy,` Bakari said.
China has blocked many cities with more than 50 million people to control the pneumonia epidemic caused by the corona virus.
While rich countries like the US and Japan have carried out plans to evacuate people from Wuhan, Africans like Bakari have little chance of leaving the city amid the blockade.
`I feel like I’m stuck here,` said Abel, an Ethiopian student at Wuhan University of Science and Technology.
In 2018, there were more than 80,000 African students in China, second only to Asia in the number of foreign students in the country, of which more than 4,000 were studying in Wuhan.
None of them anticipated the current situation.
Khamis Hassan Bakari stood on an empty street because of the pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan.
Therefore, Bakari and a group of Tanzanian doctors studying in China regularly update on social networks about the outbreak of pneumonia for more than 400 fellow students in Wuhan as well as hundreds of people from Eastern countries.
`They don’t know exactly what’s going on here,` Bakari said, adding that his team updates news mainly in Swahili, the main language in East Africa, to make it easier for many people to follow.
It is understandable to be worried when Africa’s richest country, South Africa, also has no plan to evacuate people in Wuhan.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s King Mahammed VI has asked the country’s government to repatriate 100 citizens in Wuhan.
Talking on the phone, Bakari freely shared about life amid the blockade in Wuhan.
To reassure people, Bakari’s team recommended they exercise at least 20 minutes a day and limit their time online to avoid being influenced by false rumors.
This group cited as evidence a video of a Congolese student falling ill in a Chinese hospital that spread online, sparking fears of a pneumonia epidemic.
A Ghanaian student said officials at Wuhan University of Science and Technology warned students not to share videos, pictures or messages about the pneumonia epidemic on WeChat and threatened to disconnect WiFi if they did so.
`This is not the time to take risks. There should not be panic at this time,` advised Edward Boateng, Ghana’s ambassador to China.
Dr. Hilal Kizwi, a member of Bakari’s team, said the current situation is quite chaotic, especially for newly arrived African students and those who do not know Chinese.
Patients began to die while the number of people hospitalized increased.
`I feel like I’m imprisoned. The only thing I can do is talk to my family that I’m well and everything is fine,` Kizwi said after evening prayers.
Kizwi said many more students had contacted the Tanzanian embassy to find a way to leave Wuhan and were informed they were working with local authorities on the issue.
Bakari said there is not much foreigners can do in the current situation, with police constantly monitoring people entering and leaving the city.
Medical staff check on the street in Wuhan on January 27.
Bakari said his team collected phone numbers of international student association representatives at universities in Wuhan so students could seek help.
`Until yesterday, the school still provided us with things every day,` Bakari said, being given chocolate, cakes, sugar, cooking oil and water.
`We appreciate what they are doing,` Bakari praised the Chinese government’s response to the epidemic.
After going to the supermarket and buying enough vegetables, fruits, and powdered milk to supplement nutrition when eggs, meat, or fish are no longer suitable options due to fear of the virus spreading, Bakari can now temporarily rest assured at home to ensure safety.
The current situation may be tiring, but Bakari said `we really can’t sleep these days`.