Xiao is 27 years old, works in Chengdu, in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Near the New Year he returned home to Jinzhou city, Hubei province and on the way stopped by a friend’s house.
Xiao saw unusual signs in her body when the clock struck midnight on January 25, also New Year’s Eve in the year of the Rat.
Xiao had previously heard scary stories about the virus that quickly spread across the country from the nearby Wuhan outbreak.
At that time Xiao was at a friend’s house.
Wuhan and many cities in Hubei province are now under a blockade, making it impossible for millions of people to move.
Xiao Yao in the quarantine area of a hospital in Hubei province.
During nearly a week at the hotel, he only ate instant noodles because the neighboring stores were closed.
`I was very confused. I thought about calling the police and asking the government for help,` he said.
One night Xiao saw a strange object flying around the room and thought he was hallucinating.
The government later closed the hotel where Xiao was staying.
Facilities at the hospital are very basic.
`I hadn’t showered in over 20 days. There wasn’t even a towel. The smell of disinfectant in the food made me nauseous. But then I thought about my friends in Wuhan, all of whom were struggling to survive.
After being infected, Xiao became the main character of malicious rumors spread in the town where his friend lived.
`That I had a mutation, that I died and was cremated, that my friend deliberately brought me to town to spread the disease to everyone, or that my parents worked at the Huanan seafood market – three stars lost the story`
`I was under great psychological pressure when I was diagnosed. I felt sorry for my friend,` Xiao said.
On February 19, he was discharged from the hospital and transferred to a government quarantine facility.
He also wants to quit his job at a media company in Chengdu and settle down at home after the epidemic ends, spending more time with his family.
`I don’t want to wander outside anymore,` he said.