Chinese students feel 'like being surrounded by a virus' in the US

 Chinese students feel 'like being surrounded by a virus' in the US

Cheng Yufei, an international student in the US, said the severe outbreak made her feel like she was "surrounded" by the new strain of virus.

The Omicron mutation has pushed the number of infections in the US to a record high in recent days. According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University, within just a week to January 10, the average number of confirmed Covid cases per day in the US was 714,000 cases, an increase of 74.3% compared to the previous week. On January 10 alone, the country recorded 1.13 million new cases. The US has become the country with the highest number of daily Covid cases in the world today.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Omicron strain accounts for 95% of new virus infections. New York became one of the "epicentres", ranking third in the number of daily infections in the US.

The map shows the average number of Covid cases per day by state for the week of January 3-10 in the US. Photo: Nytimes

The map shows the average number of Covid cases per day by state for the week of January 3-10 in the US. Photo: Nytimes

Cheng Yufei, a Chinese international student in New York, told Red Star News (China) that recently, the US had "fallen" before the new strain and the epidemic became more and more serious. "Every day around me, someone is positive. I also get infected. Even if my friends are infected, they don't dare to tell their family soon. Because they are afraid of making their parents worry," Cheng said. Not only Cheng, many Chinese students are worried because they always feel they are "besieged" by the virus. "If there's no one around you infected, it's just that you don't have friends," Cheng said.

Cheng Yufei added more information about her infection: "On December 21, last year, I went out with my friends. My friend had an unpleasant symptom in his throat, but he did not think he was infected. I was also subjective. that it was a normal sore throat from the cold, and we went to the movies, shopping, and eating together." Two days later, Cheng began to develop symptoms of a sore throat and realized that things were no longer simple. On December 27, she received a positive Covid test result from the new strain of Omicron and quickly isolated herself at home.

Students at Syracuse University, New York, in March 2020. Photo: Reuters

Students at Syracuse University, New York, in March 2020. Photo: Reuters

In the past few days, many Chinese international students in New York have shared their Covid status on social networking sites. Cheng Yufei did the same. Cheng said that after receiving a positive result, there will not be any medical staff calling to instruct them to self-isolate or take medicine because of the overwhelming number of cases. She consulted experiences from medical school friends, the Internet and people who have been infected. After that, everything depends on the resistance of each person. "Fortunately, perhaps because I have had all four doses of the vaccine, my symptoms are very mild, I only have a cold and sore throat, I have not lost my sense of smell, so I am fine," Cheng said.

Gu Jie, another Chinese student studying in New York, said: "Omicron is really contagious, but if enough vaccines are given, the symptoms will be milder." She believes that Omicron has made Americans cautious, but they are not too alarmed because they still think this is a common virus. "Now New York is having a severe outbreak and the medical system is overloaded. All Covid testing sites are full, you have to wait in line for at least an hour," Gu said.

Currently, international students in New York have received notices from schools about online learning and it may take a long time. Meanwhile, on January 4, China announced the suspension of some flights from the US due to concerns about the spread of a new strain. This hinders the travel of tourists and international students during the 2022 Lunar New Year. Faced with this situation, many Chinese students have canceled their plans to return home during the Lunar New Year, even the entire semester. vacation.