Mesa family visiting Wuhan speaks out about coronavirus outbreak

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    Mesa, AZ (KTVK) — A Mesa family visiting Wuhan is speaking out about what it’s like to be at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

Jonny Dangerfield spoke to Arizona’s Family this morning. He and his family are in China because his wife is a Wuhan native, and they wanted to celebrate the Chinese New Year with her family.

“We have some young kids, and it’s really important for us that they get as much time in China as possible so they can get to know this part of their life and their culture,” Dangerfield said.

The family planned to stay for a month, but since the coronavirus outbreak, they are not sure when they will be able to fly home.

Dangerfield said the feeling in Wuhan is a mix of resilience and anxiety. People are worried, but still carrying on with their daily lives.

“I can’t speak for an entire city of 10 million people, but my general sense is that people are concerned, but a lot of the sentiment we talk about here in Wuhan is that ‘It seems like everyone in Wuhan is not worried, but everyone outside of Wuhan is freaking out,’ and there may be some truth to that. I definitely don’t see panic in the streets,” Dangerfield said.

Dangerfield said he and his family are not under any quarantine or restrictions while in Wuhan. However, he said they are mainly staying indoors to avoid contact with others. His family does wear face masks when they go out, but that is not a new thing.

“One of the biggest reasons I wear a face mask is if the pollution is bad, which is an issue that many areas in China have grappled with,” Dangerfield said.

Dangerfield made it clear that he and his family are not “stuck” in Wuhan. They planned on being there for about a month. But depending on how long the travel restrictions are in place, their trip may be extended.

“If we wanted to leave, we couldn’t. But technically until about mid-February we’re not stuck yet, just living a more indoors life than we had anticipated,” Dangerfield said.

So far, no one from their family has gotten the virus, but they are being extra cautious as they have three kids under the age of 5. Dangerfield says he feels confident they can weather this out and stay healthy.

“We’re just one of millions of families here …. We’re not struggling. We’re by all definitions thriving here, but there are people that are struggling, and there are people that are working really hard — the nurses, doctors that are working in these hospitals, scientists and biologists that are struggling to find vaccines and different ways to contain this, so our hearts and our prayers go out to them,” Dangerfield said.

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