Coronavirus experience for Newcastle man Jordan Hellens - trapped in China as ‘everyone started freaking out’
Newcastle’s Jordan Hellens had never been to China, so he got a little more than he bargained for on a holiday getaway when the deadly coronavirus hysteria peaked. See his experience.
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It was a getaway. A break. A holiday with his brother and partner which turned into something out of a Hollywood movie.
Newcastle’s Jordan Hellens was pretty excited to spend some time in China. He’d never been there before so it was a whole new experience.
But the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus just days after he arrived meant it was one he will never forget.
“It was all over the news and there was this heavy police presence enforcing that, driving around all day,” Mr Hellens said. “It was real eerie.”
On January 6, Mr Hellens flew straight into Wuhan, in the Hubei province, the coronavirus epicentre.
It was only days later details of the deadly virus started to emerge.
Mr Hellens, his brother Braidy and his partner Winnie decided to travel to Anhui, on the border of the Hubei province, to stay with Winnie’s family.
“We were there for a week and it seemed normal so then we went to Shanghai and then Beijing,” Mr Hellens said.
“But as soon as the New Year’s celebrations kicked off, that’s when everything shut down and everything was forbidden to go outside and only small family gathering were permitted.
“In Shanghai they had these drones with loud speakers and if people weren’t wearing masks it would just pull up and start blasting people in Chinese. It was like out of a sci-fi film.
“Had to wear masks all the time and everything went into lockdown. No-one was on the streets, it was very strange.
“Everyone started freaking out and the whole vibe of the place changed.”
Concern starting creeping in as the trio were unsure how they would make their way back to Australia.
They had a flight booked out of Wuhan on January 28 but because they were in lockdown, it was cancelled.
A flight booked two days later also got cancelled and they were in limbo about what would happen next.
“It was worrying, we were anxious to get home,” Mr Hellens added.
All they had bene told was to stay indoors, wear masks at all times and wash their hands.
“I had a mask on the whole time, listening to what the government was saying to help prevent the spread,” he said.
“At first it was business as normal but then you could tell people were getting worried because you couldn’t see anyone, everyone just disappeared.
“The year before they reckon New Year’s celebrations were insane, for the whole week, everybody off work, big parties and you’d just walk down the street and there was nobody.
“People still let off fireworks but would run out front, light them up and then run inside.”
Shop shelves were almost bare. Pharmacies were booming.
“All the shops were dead quiet except for the chemists, they was massive line ups,” Mr Hellens explained.
“As soon as it happened everything sold out, all the masks and it took us a whole day to get one.
“My brother and I went into one shop and they started screaming at us to get out because they were worried.”
Mr Hellens had a flight scheduled to leave February 6 but luckily got a flight at the last minute early this week.
“I had an opportunity of a last minute flight to Taiwan and I jumped on that and luckily got out of there,” he said.
“Then to Brisbane, there was a big screening process, checked by doctors. The plane was packed.”
His brother Braidy had to wait until today (Friday) to get back home, but he was forced to leave his girlfriend Winnie, who is not an Australian citizen, behind and will have to wait until the travel ban is lifted before she returns.
Mr Hellens is now under quarantine for 14 days. Unable to go out, unable to have contact with other people.
“I can’t really go outside at all, I can’t leave the house, not really allowed face-to-face contact so you need someone to go buy you groceries,” he said.
“I’m lucky enough I can work over the phone trying to keep myself busy.”
On Friday, China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, reported 69 new deaths, taking the total in China to over 600.
Worldwide there are over 31,000 confirmed cases, with 15 cases confirmed in Australia.