A video that showed happier times in China is making the rounds online as it featured a group of Guangzhou residents expressing their optimism and patriotism, declaring they do not need masks despite the Wuhan virus being a thing.
An interview by @icablenews in Guangzhou regarding the outbreak of #WuhanCoronavirus in the country. And that is why the virus spreads so quickly.
— HKRev - Hong Kong Local News Translation (@HkrevInfo) January 23, 2020
Video: @icablenews
Translated by: https://t.co/pRxFvfVf04 team#China #WuhanPneumonia pic.twitter.com/LpMwaXPCAY
The video is from Monday, Jan. 20, a mere few days before multiple cities in the Hubei province have undergone lockdowns, preventing tens of millions of people from leaving.
The video was shot by i-Cable News, whose team paid a visit to a wet market in Guangzhou to ask residents what they thought about the virus outbreak in Wuhan.
At that time, the Wuhan virus was just beginning to register in the nation’s consciousness.
“We don’t care. What’s there to be afraid of?” the middle-aged women and men told the camera in celebratory mood.
“We’ve got the government. With the government, we have nothing to fear.”
Asked if they won’t be wearing masks, the group said without hesitating: “No masks! We are healthy. We trust the government!”
For the record, iCable News is based in Hong Kong and it is not known if there was an agenda behind the video.
It could have done too much to portray the regular folks in China as provincial village people.
So far, more than two dozen cases of the Wuhan virus, which is also known as novel coronavirus, have been confirmed in Guangdong province.
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