Covid-19 Diaries: The Substance of Morality

By Lizzy Noel

Somewhere (brewing) in the depths of the Chinese countryside, Wuhan is about to wake up to a new day which will turn out to be rather controversial. Because of their differences in delights in the world, Chinese will be (taken apart) and (convicted) as the most barbaric and (unnecessary) beings on this planet!
No. This is not a story about Chinese

• Language: English
• Publisher: IslandSpark
• Release date: Jan 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781800492554

Lizzy Noel

I am originally from the beautiful island of Saint Lucia and now reside in England with my husband. This is my first book and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing it and providing a diary for the world to remember the nightmare of 2020, which was Covid-19. If you haven't been to Saint Lucia yet, you gotta go!

Book preview

1

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to Alex and Marina McLean who reinvigorated the writer in me following a visit to their house. It took just one song to remind me about that spark which I had for music and lyrics (and a general aptitude for writing).

To my loving niece Bhavani Nataraj, I give you my heart, for in these times you have been my confidante; someone who I know has so much to give this world. Using a tiny ounce of your intellect will bring about great things in the future. I am sure that your grandmother Diana Noel will be only too proud to witness this collaboration.

Fiona Macpherson, Isobel Romero-Shaw and Bhavani Nataraj: thank you so much for all the edits and suggestions. This has been a first for me and it was so good to take you along on that ride. You all provided bucket loads of encouragement to pursue this and for that, I am truly grateful.

Lots of thanks also go out to Claudette Adjodha, Gladys Kadoo, Luke Nix,  Alicia Stephens, Karen Osbourne, Jez Hallett, Finnian, Fabian and Catherine Avis for all your valued contributions.

For my great-niece Arielle Noel-Louis, thank you goes to you and your parents Oliver Louis and Keitha Noel-Louis, for allowing me to use your beautiful picture for my front cover.

For my Noel family of brothers, wives and children, thank you too for your valued contributions in the development of this book. Hopefully this will be one of many which I will take pride in writing.

To my husband, I give thanks to you as you inspired me to not only achieve my dreams but also leave a stamp that you would always be proud of. You’re a tough cookie to crack and that motivated me more to achieve something which would leave a lasting imprint on your life. Thank you also for helping to bring the right graphics into place in the end to make such a striking novel.

Lastly and most importantly, I would like to thank a special couple who re-illuminated my life on that very day they walked into it. You are two of the kindest people I have ever met, and I shall forever be in your debt. Liquorice and Honey, thank you for your kind words and bringing my heart back to life. You reminded me how to smile.

2

PREFACE

It is 17th November 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province and Changming (name meaning forever bright), has been coughing violently for the past three days. His breathing is laboured, and his lungs feel like they are on fire. Just last night, he developed a high fever which woke him out of his sleep. He is concerned about how quickly his symptoms have developed and so he journeys to the nearest hospital to be admitted and seek help."

It is a normal day at Wuhan Central Hospital and under the direction of Dr. Li Wenliang, there is something very suspicious about these symptoms; he quickly recognized the tell-tale signs of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, but something is different with this SARS case. And with that, a new strain of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (Covid19) is born!

Right then Changming. I have taken a blood sample and other vitals. You seem to have a bad case of the flu. I will write a prescription for paracetamol to ease the temperature. You must go home now and rest. Drink loads of soup! And with that, Changming bows to Dr. Li and faintly drags himself home. On route, he would venture into one the China’s busiest pharmacies to get his prescription, carrying himself through the thick crowds and bustling streets before collapsing in the confines of his home.

I need to reach the director as soon as possible. Give me an audience with him at once! Dr. Li is concerned. He knows that there are protocols which will need to be followed to contain any possible infection, but more importantly, secure any news about this so that it is not breached to the rest of China…and the world!

Get these tests off to the lab immediately. I need them back within the hour, he screams at his assistant, hands shaking in fear at the thought of this possible impending disaster. Dr. Li was now of a certain age and his immune system would probably not be able to withstand a viral attack. A lifelong smoking habit had caused him to develop lung cancer and he was still recuperating from his last cancer operation.

SARS had emerged to the world in the early 2000s and was about to make a comeback. He quickly digs up his digital archives, rediscovering symptoms which included: flu-like symptoms, fever, muscle pain, coughing, lethargy, sore throat.

I need these results back now! He screams again to his imaginary assistant who had ran off to get the tests done 1 hour ago… But at that opportune moment, he bursts clumsily through the doors with them, like a corporal answering acutely to his captain’s demands.

Here they are! It’s concerning. The director will also be down with his team in 30 minutes. He wants you to comprehensively brief him on this. We also need to get Mr Changming back to hospital. I’m afraid it is not good news: he is infectious! This ward will need to be cordoned off!

This is the beginning of a very long heartache for Wuhan Central Hospital. They would get Changming back to the hospital, interrogate him about his whereabouts in the last week, cordon off the hospital and try really hard to keep this news all under wraps.

I don’t go out that much. I live quite isolated. But I did buy some meat at the market about 7 days ago, said he, talking through the excruciating pain of his slowly collapsing lungs. The ventilator seemed to do very little to ease his asphyxiation and the entirety of it all was starting to take its toll on his mental state too; tears rolling down his fever-reddened cheeks. More importantly, medical experts will now be working tirelessly to contain this new strain of Coronavirus and treat the numerous cases which will inevitably arise.

The next couple of weeks are the start of a long hell. People are starting to pour in with very similar symptoms and 50% of the hospital beds are now taken up by the victims of this new virus. It wasn’t long before other hospitals within Wuhan province were starting to get an influx of the disease too.

For a while, it seems to be well-contained even though the numbers blew out of proportion. However, China cannot keep the news of this threat behind their borders for long.

3

Chapter 1 Covid-19 is born

I’ll never forget receiving my first WhatsApp message about what was going on over there. And yes, I have just scrolled back to discover whatever is left of my saved messages. The news must have really hit me in January, and I started to share bits of it around the 20th… but it felt like no one was really taking this seriously. I think we all assumed that it was another scare that would blow over like all other diseases which emanated from there.

So I guess this is a brilliant time to talk about the mundane word: BREXIT. The UK had been a mess for such an extensive period of time: a depressing place to be. The news had been dominated every hour, every day, every week, and every month with the prolonged Brexit discussions. The only difference now in January was