HOUSTON – Two local Texas women living in China revealed the untold story about the coronavirus to KPRC 2.
Shelly from Houston said she’s living in her apartment with her 2-year-old son. She said they are basically quarantined indefinitely.
She said the government has closed schools and jobs. Therefore, staying home is expected of everyone while officials work to contain and minimize exposure of the virus.
There are delivery services to bring groceries, diapers, or anything else Shelly and her family needs, but she said leaving her apartment is no walk in the park. A simple walk through the threshold of her apartment requires layers of protective clothing.
“I have my glasses on, my mask, gloves, everything. Like, my whole body is covered. I won’t walk out with shorts. The elevator has some sort of plastic over the elevator buttons and they have hand sanitizer in there,” Shelly said. “It takes maybe three to five minutes.”
Security guards in her building take her temperature whenever she goes in or out of the main doors. However, she can't go far. Since she does not want to expose her son to this virus, she's only stepping out during his short naps and cannot go farther than the baby monitor can reach.
Another Texas woman, Ashley Jenkins, moved to China days before the government started closing businesses and requesting people to stay indoors. About that time, she said someone mugged her and stole her phone and passport.
Now, she said because of the coronavirus being China’s biggest concern, she is not a priority to the U.S. Embassy and is trapped inside of her apartment, unable to go anywhere without a passport.
"Think about a problem. I'll have an answer for it because it's been 18 days of me doing this and I really don't know what to do at this point," Jenkins said.
Jenkins said she’s going stir crazy, to say the least. She worries her nearby store will run out of food and she’ll have nowhere else to turn.
Both women regret not getting home to the U.S. before the outbreak but never dreamed the seriousness of the quarantines would come to this.
Now, if they choose to travel, they’ll be held in public quarantine for two weeks.