Australian racehorse trainer trapped in Wuhan describes its eerie streets as ‘out of this world’ as nearly 250 people die in Hubei province in ONE DAY
- Rui Severino is working at a Wuhan jockey club amid the coronavirus outbreak
- He said many preventative measures are in place to stop the virus spreading
- Mr Severino is tested for twice a day – and always wears a face mask
- He said locals believe the Chinese government will be able to control the virus
An Australian racehorse trainer in Wuhan has the described the city as ‘out of this world’ as it continues to grapple with the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Rui Severino, who is working at the Yulong Jockey Club in Wuhan, said rapidly increasing cases of the deadly virus was taking a toll on the local community.
There have now been more than 1,300 casualties, including 242 people who died in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, on the same day.
Nearly 15,000 new cases have been confirmed, bringing the total to about 50,000 on mainland China.
The father-of-two told The Herald Sun increased screenings may explain the rapid rise in confirmed cases.
Australian racehorse trainer Rui Severino is working in Wuhan during the coronavirus outbreak
Mr Severino said many preventative measures are in place to stop the spread of the deadly disease, including being tested twice a day, wearing face masks and remaining indoors
‘They’ve been screening every single person that lives in Wuhan and in the province of Hubei, and I’m talking in the city of Wuhan 11 million people and they go to everyone’s house, every single house, every single person gets screened and I believe that’s why we’re seeing these new cases,’ Mr Severino said.
Mr Severino is still working with horses despite the outbreak, and is tested twice every day for the disease, with extreme preventative measures in place throughout the city.
Face masks are worn by everyone, and the usually crowded streets are bare, with each family of four only able to send one person out for two hours every two days for food.
‘You might see one person, two people, and everyone sort of looks sideways to each other and if you’re in the stores to buy groceries everyone keeps their distance from each other. It’s out of this world,’ Mr Severino said.
Mr Severino was offered to come home by the Australian embassy, but chose to stay and work at the jockey club despite the disease
Mr Severino was last in Australia over the Christmas period with his sons in Melbourne, and landed back in Wuhan before the outbreak.
He has chosen to stay in Wuhan and work with his staff despite offers from the Australian embassy to bring him home.
Mr Severino said locals are confident the Chinese government will be able to control the coronavirus, and were diligently following their guidance.
‘Physically it’s not apocalyptic – there’s no armed guards on the street, there’s no people following around – but psychologically it’s very, very surreal,’ he said.
Mr Severino said locals believe the Chinese government will be able to control the deadly disease, which has killed more than 1,300 people