Coronavirus 冠狀病毒 and Wuhan Pneumonia 武漢肺炎 have been on my mind lately. I am very concerned about friends and family in HK and in other places where the virus has spread to. Many of my friends and family are in the medical field, and although I was still in primary school during the Sars outbreak in 2003, I feel confident in talking about this topic because frankly I don’t want something similar to SARS happened again to anyone or any place. Hopefully you will learn some Cantonese and some Mandarin in this lesson. I am going to be talking about coronavirus冠狀病毒, Wuhan Pneumonia武漢肺炎, what Hong Kong gov has done thus far, what you can do to prevent it and some random Mandarin when you are in contact with a Chinese person who might have travelled to China and been infected.
What do we know about coronavirus?
The virus “Coronavirus”冠狀病毒 is similar type of virus like the previous SARS or MERS. This time it is OC43. It was given the name: SARI. There is still no known method of tackling this virus. Health Authority in HK announced that this virus is very serious. Although the WHO said that SARI, this coronavirus, is not yet a global health emergency. The virus is also found to be able to enter your body if your throat or throat mucous is dry.
冠狀病毒 Corona virus - The character 冠 [goon] means crowns, like the crown of a king. The character 狀 [jong] means shape or state, like 形狀 (Shape) or 狀態 (State). The two characters combined, 冠狀, means crown-like. The third character 病[bang] means sickness or illness. The last character 毒 [dook] means poison. The two characters combined, 病毒 means virus.
What about Wuhan Pneumonia武漢肺炎? Why is SARI called Wuhan Pneumonia武漢肺炎?
Beginning from Dec 2019, there has been an increasing amount of cases of unknown pneumonia in the City of Wuhan, Hubei. China has now, just a couple of days ago, put a restriction on people going in and out of Wuhan. People in China have been saying, all trains going from and to Wuhan will be suspended for at least a month, meaning there might be a situation of short of food supplies and etc soon. Hopefully not. According to the info on Weibo, as of Jan 28, 2020, there has been more than 4500 patients diagnosed with Wuhan Pneumonia, 106 people passed away because of it, how accurate the number is, I am not sure. Some sources have been saying over 10,000 people infected in Wuhan already. Believe whatever you want to believe, but keep in mind that regardless of the number of people, this virus 病毒can now be spread from human to human and it is airborne.
It was rumoured that the first contact of this virus 病毒 was from consuming wildlife animals, now suspected to be bats, field rats among others. 武漢肺炎Wuhan Pneumonia, The first two characters, 武漢, is the name of the city, Wuhan. The character 肺 [fai] means lungs. The character 炎 [yim] means infection. The two characters combined, 肺炎, means lung infection or pneumonia.
What are the symptoms?
The Hong Kong Control Centre currently advices on symptoms of this virus: 發燒 Fever (Literally burning up) - fast and high fever, hard to lower, but if successful, the fever will return very soon. 乾咳 Dry cough, or cough 咳 - next stage is coughing, in long duration, people affected are mainly children. - Adults has mainly throat symptoms, together with headaches and physical discomforts. - elderly and young children are most susceptible, so take extra extra precaution.
It sounds serious right now, but Is this Wuhan Pneumonia actually serious? 武漢肺炎嚴唔嚴重?
Going by the logic of how this coronavirus is similar to SARS in 2003, I would yes, extremely. It’s scary but I want to share this. During SARS in 2003, my mother who is a nurse, got sick. She was quarantined for 2 weeks. I was a child then, I cried so much at school thinking my mother was going to die. So, that’s why. If you are outside of China or Hong Kong, there are 2 cases in Japan, 1 case in Malaysia, 2 cases in Thailand, if you are outside of Asia, you should still be concerned if there are cases suspected or confirmed. For example, there are 3 cases Canada now in Canada. Although, I hope the virus won’t spread as fast in Canada, since its so cold here. That’s why, if you are in those areas, you should put on a mask. You might think it’s an asian thing, you know sometimes girls like to put a mask on because they don’t want to put on makeup. For HKers, we do so because we were so traumatized from SARS in 2003. If you are sick, definitely wear a mask when you leave home, you don’t want to get even sicker when your immunity is low, or spread your germs to others. If you are sick and not wearing a mask, I applaud your bravery, yet I encourage you to start thinking about how your behaviours can affect others.
What has the HK government done so far? 香港政府宜家到底做左D咩?
I am also putting a giant question mark for this question. My mother is a nurse, and I was told the medical team was given no guidelines of precaution and virus control. She had to dig up info she had from SARS in 2003. What I know is this, As of Jan 24, 2020, the chief executive Carrie Lam has decided to stay in Switzerland in order to remotely monitor the situation. No policy made to stop face masks prices from inflating. Many HKers are left with no supplies to protect themselves. There has not been any notice for school suspension after Chinese New Year. They are and have been monitoring body temperature at the customs for people coming into HK since 2003. Yet, because this is the Chinese New Year Period, people have been travelling to China visiting family and friends, and soon after Chinese New Year they are likely to go back to different countries. It might become an epidemic.
One must take precautions to save yourself. And how?
First, avoid going to China during this period of time. If you must, make sure you wear a mask. Going to more populated places, also wear a mask. Put on a mask when you are experiencing any symptoms. Another precaution suggested is to ensure your throat or throat mucous is always in a moist condition. In fact, they suggest not to allow your throat to become dry, as in 10 minutes of being dry, the virus will find ways to enter into your body. So do not refrain from drinking water, always have a bottle handy. For adults, they suggest drinking 50-80cc of warm water; for children 30-50cc. Just drink if you feel your throat is dry. Do not hesitate. However drinking more than the amount recommended is not necessary, as it will just want to pass through your system. The idea is to “Keep your Throat Constantly Moist” And wash your hands thoroughly. Be sure to rub between your fingers, and under your nails. Always have antiseptic cleanser or towel readily available. antiseptic cleanser or sanitizers is called 消毒液, the first character 消 means remove, the second character 毒 like virus 病毒, by itself means poison, and the last character 液 means liquid. In combination, it means antiseptic. Lastly, for masks口罩 (Literally means mouth cover), look for the ones that are anti-bacteria, for flu, anti-dust, not just anti-dust Be sure for preventing you from getting sick, you will need a medical mask, not a sponge one. If someone coughs or sneezes at you, those droplets will permeate through the sponge mask and be directly in contact with your face. The sponge ones can only prevent your germs from spreading into the air.
Random Mandarin time: If you see someone who might have just travelled to China and is showing symptoms, what should you say?
When you want to ask if someone is sick, do not try to directly translate word for word. Do you have any illness in Cantonese, the direct translation is 你有病丫? In Mandarin, the direct translation is 你有病嗎? DO NOT DO NOT say that. This phrase both in Cantonese and Mandarin has a negative connotation, as if you are trying to insult the person by saying they are mentally ill. Say cantonese: 你係咪唔舒服? Or in Mandarin: 你是不是不舒服? Literally are you, yes or no, unwell?
List of Vocab:
冠狀病毒 Coronavirus
武漢肺炎Wuhan Pneumonia
發燒 Fever
咳 cough
乾咳 Dry cough
消毒液 antiseptic or sanitizers
口罩 masks
