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So, as we’ve been telling you, Belize has joined the global coronavirus clan battling this pandemic.  According to the WHO, 195 countries have now confirmed cases of COVID 19.

Now, in terms of national response, we are way behind many countries that are dealing with the outbreak. Take our friendly ally Taiwan, they have under 200 cases but they have it under control and there are very strict quarantine rules. 

India, which has the second largest population in the world, is trying their best to contain it but it is spreading rapidly. It is a challenge for them because imagine trying to achieve social distancing in a country with 1.3 billion people. 

A country where everywhere you go, you are surrounded by crowds. 

Well, our Courtney Weatherburne is studying in New Delhi, which is one of several major cities in India that are under strict lock down for the next 21 days. She and her classmates can’t even leave the student hostel, even walking around the campus is restricted. But she was able to capture footage, edit and produce this story about how the situation is in India and how her fellow classmates are coping being so far away from home. Here is her story on day 1 of the curfew when there were just under 400 cases.  The persons interviewed are from South Sudan, Afghanistan, Russia, Egypt and Syria in that order. Here is that story. 

Its 10 am on Sunday here at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication in New Delhi and Prime Minister Modi’s Janata Curfew is underway, Janata meaning public, and really, this curfew is for the public, it’s a self-isolation strategy that reduces the risk of spreading the coronavirus. The curfew started at 7 am and ends at 9pm. Everyone must follow it by staying in-doors unless it is an emergency. And it seems everyone is respecting the curfew because as you can see behind me, there is no person, nor car in sight.
 
And just as the New Delhi streets are deserted, the IIMC campus is like a ghost town, with only the security guards roaming around, others manning the gates and idle dogs, who couldn’t be any less bothered, laying about and making the most of this sunlit day.

But the nice weather, the freshly manicured hedges and spring flushed flowers don’t reflect how ominous and unprecedented this pandemic is.

In India, there are close to 400 confirmed cases and counting. All public places have been closed down and mass gatherings have been banned.

That includes our Development Journalism course at the IIMC. And since the suspension of classes, it’s been tough for us as international students, all hunkered down at the hostel.

Sure, we still have assignments to complete so we keep busy with those. Of course, we make time to hang out, play games.

But aside from the situation here in India and at the hostel, many foreign students are concerned about their loved ones who are back home and also in other countries.

Rashid James - South Sudan
"My friend, about coronavirus I just feel like whenever I hear the word corona, it just tingles my ears, I feel like just running crazy because it is just too much stress. Imagine I sleep around 4:00 in the morning everyday thinking about this situation, I am in India, the mother of my kids she is in a different country, my kids are in different countries and the worst thing there are new cases every day in those countries, it is really killing me. I try to call someone, I call my mother from Sudan to fly to go to stay with my kids, she was told that there is no flight and the government has locked the airport."

Atifa - Afghanistan
"The worst situation is not good and everyone is scared from this bad situation, in Afghanistan, we have recorded more than 22 cases of the coronavirus and the government want to try to prevent the coronavirus from spreading and especially all of those provinces that are close to Iran, Iran has a lot of cases, after China, Iran has the biggest number of the corona cases. In Iran, it is more than 21,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 have died because of the coronavirus. It is a bad situation especially for Afghanistan, all around us are countries that have a lot of coronavirus cases and in Afghanistan we don’t have good situation how we can prevent from this case."

Marina - Russia
"Before yesterday in 8:30 in the evening I was eating my lunch and I got message from a person from the Indian Embassy in Moscow that on 22nd of March, all the Indian visas for Russian citizens will be cancelled and they are bringing all the Russian students from the ITEC program back home and they told me that the flight might be soon. And in half an hour I got my flight back home for the next day so before yesterday I was supposed to fly back home and it was quite nervous night and we were sorting out the case with course director and so on and I fought for my right to stay here because I want to get my diploma and I don’t want to leave in an English way and not say goodbye to my beloved friends who I got here."

Eman - Egypt
"Sometimes I feel that I am happy and I am here, I am grateful like the place here, we have some greens. I am locked in the room with my best friend and it is nice but sometimes it feels like I miss my family, I miss my parents."

Ghinwa Mia - Syria
"The thing is, in Syria for example, I am following the news there, everything is locked , the airports, the shops everything and it feels like I am following their news and I am following their instructions here in India so I don’t know how things will end with this coronavirus but we will just have hope."

And that is really what we have to hold on to during this time. The curfew in India has been extended until March 31st, but that is not draining the high spirits of a few of my batch mates.

Muna - Jordan
"So I prefer to sing this song, this mean a lot, this mean I have a lot of love for my country, for my people, for humanism, so we need to be strong and we need to be safe."

Since that report, the number of cases have surged from 400 to over 500. 

Again, all of India will be under complete lockdown for the next 21 days. So, hang in there Courtney. And to all the Belizean students who are stuck abroad, stay safe.