On the cusp of walking, 15-month-old Chloe Fabic is seen in a video pushing a chair.
The video was taken in Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. Chloe’s parents are desperately fighting to get her home.
Her dad, Richard Fabic, said that there is nothing he can do from Toronto.
“I’m certainly scared. Worried. Frustrated with the lack of response back here. And I feel helpless. There is not much I can do. Follow official channels, and also reaching out to my MP. And on Twitter,” Richard said.
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The toddler is with her grandparents in Wuhan. Her parents, Richard Fabic and Yunfei Li, were in the process of moving the family to Victoria. Right now Li is house-hunting in Victoria.
“When my wife left early in January, any talk of the virus, there wasn’t any concerns at the time. So we weren’t that worried. her parents, there was no worry or concern on We Chat,” Richardsaid.
But last week, the situation suddenly changed. The outbreak developed into something much more serious, and authorities shut down the city. Fifty million residents are locked down in Wuhan, including Chloe and her grandparents. It’s a city full of fear and uncertainty as China has confirmed almost 6,000 cases of the new form of coronavirus, with more than 100 deaths. The hospitals are overwhelmed, supplies are short.
“So, essentially they had no way to leave. And as this was going on we started to hear more about how serious this was, started to be talked about more in the Canadian news. And finally over in China through social media, and We Chat, they started to hear more about the seriousness of the virus. Like how contagious it is, how many people are dying,” Richard said.
Now while they wait for help from the Canadian consul and their MP, there is still no word on when Chloe and her grandparents will be leaving China anytime soon.
Mary Griffin
