Wuhan is the epicentre of China’s deadly coronavirus outbreak, and there are an estimated 11 million people in China’s Hubei province on lockdown, which has been the case for a week.

The death toll is constantly rising, with more than 170 people confirmed dead as a result of the virus thus far, and more than 7 700 confirmed infections.

Here’s a real-time map of confirmed cases of the coronavirus around the world.

CNN reports that “flights, trains and buses leaving Wuhan have been cancelled, highways out of the city blocked and all intra-city public transports suspended”.

In addition, private vehicles have now been banned, so you’re really pretty strapped for options.

There are plenty of videos doing the rounds, but many carry this warning:

CNN has been unable to verify many of the videos being shared on Weibo that purport to show life inside the lockdown zone. Some appear to show crowded hospitals, strained health care workers and gravely ill patients. Others show empty supermarkets shelves and empty streets. Still others show a lighter side of life as people attempt to achieve some normality in a very unusual situation.

Just to give you an idea of the kinds of videos CNN has been unable to verify, here are a few widely circulated videos that have done the rounds:

This is Wuhan right now, in armed lockdown.

The situation is worse than we think.pic.twitter.com/0v9UyldcDp

— Avi Yemini 🇦🇺🇮🇱 (@OzraeliAvi) January 24, 2020

#BreakingNews UPDATE (NEW VIDEOS): Chinese hospitals in several big cities are overwhelmed due to #coronavirus outbreak and can’t accept many patients. Some people are falling and dying on the streets. As Wuhan virus spreads across the country, China puts more cities on lockdown. pic.twitter.com/jFoCelGISC

— Max Howroute▫️ (@howroute) January 23, 2020

Again, videos like that have remained largely unverified, with some saying the Chinese government is attempting to cover up the extent of the problem.

We’ll focus on the videos that have been shared by 24-year-old Irish teacher Ben Kavanagh, who has been sharing his experience of living in the midst of the lockdown.

Here’s his report, posted on Sunday, January 26:

The BBC featured this clip of Kavanagh talking about the ‘ghost town’ the following day:

Ben Kavanagh, originally from County Kildare, speaks from locked-down Chinese city Wuhan where he has been working as a teacher. pic.twitter.com/6rbnrmgmMY

— BBC News NI (@BBCNewsNI) January 27, 2020

Do you want more Ben? Well, here’s a video from January 28:

Usually, I would say that everything is better with an Irish accent, but there’s not much that can be done to put a positive spin on this outbreak.

This Q&A session with Kavanagh was posted yesterday:

Closer to home, South Africans have been touching down after leaving China and some of the surrounding areas.

TimesLIVE put this video together yesterday, showing arrivals at Cape Town International Airport.

Start from 25 seconds in and hear Elrick Julius talk about how woes the virus is:

The Daily Maverick reports that there are 35 South Africans known to be in the city of Wuhan, per a media briefing yesterday by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize:

Roxanne Rawlins, a South African teacher who lives in Wahun, told Jacaranda FM that the city is in lockdown.

“When you leave your house you feel anxious. The city is currently on lockdown. Public transport is also stopped, so we can go nowhere. If we need food we must walk to the closest supermarket,” Rawlins told Mark Bester on the show.

“I am definitely afraid because also medical supplies are running low.”

Whilst Mkhize stressed that there are no South Africans known to be infected at this stage, there is a suspected case in Zambia:

Mkhize said temperature screenings at airports will be intensified, especially with flights coming in from China. But he also noted that people coming in through land borders will be monitored.

If a case of the virus is detected in South Africa, the department has designated three major hospitals – Charlotte Maxeke Academic, Steve Biko and Tembisa – as treatment facilities that are equipped to deal with patients with the virus.

Forgive me if I don’t place great trust in our government to efficiently manage a coronavirus outbreak here at home.

Wash your hands, and maybe tell that co-worker who displays symptoms similar to those of pneumonia or the common cold that they should work remotely.

Heck, tell your boss everyone should work remotely for the next few weeks. It’s worth a shot.

[sources:cnn&mirror&timeslive&dailymaverick]