The outbreak of coronavirus has led to claims of racial abuse in the UK after a Chinese student at Newcastle University complained that a student on campus screamed and ran away from him. According to the Guardian, one British-Chinese journalist in London witnessed a man quickly moving seats away from him when he sat down on a bus.

Since last December when the first Coronavirus patient was diagnosed in Wuhan, a city with a population over 11 million in China, the amount of sufferers has escalated dramatically. 

The number of deaths has surpassed 900. There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally. Although the Chinese government has locked down Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus started, it has spread to 27 countries.

On the 24th January, Chinese New Years Eve, instead of celebrating the upcoming year of the rat, over 3000 workers gathered in Huoshenshan hospital in Wuhan, an emergency medical centre built in 10 days especially for the purposes of treating coronavirus patients. With a total construction area of over 30,000 square meters, nearly 2,000 box-type board rooms have been set up.

On the 30th of January, the WHO finally declared the outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan as a global emergency. The United States announced a temporary quarantine-proof entry rule starting on the second of February. Non – US citizens who have visited China within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the country. 

The Australian government has announced a similar ban, any of its citizens arriving from China will be quarantined for two weeks. Countries including Russia, Japan, Pakistan and Italy have announced similar travel restrictions.

Dr Li, the first person that highlighted the threat of Coronavirus, died on 7th February. This triggered an outburst of anger on social media platforms. The Chinese government has been accused by many of that it arrested Dr Li in a bid to stop him causing panic by alerting the population of the threat of the virus.