Bay Area man among those living in quarantined Wuhan, epicenter of coronavirus

GREENBRAE, Calif. - A 27-year old man from the Bay Area is among those living at the epicenter of the corona-virus outbreak in Wuhan China.

His parents told KTVU at their home in Greenbrae in Marin County Wednesday that they are worried about their son’s safety in a city that’s now under quarantine by the Chinese governments.

“The streets are deserted,” said Douglas Perez describing conversations about the situation in the city with his son. “Not many people out. It’s been quite, very quiet.”

His son, also named Douglas, moved to Wuhan two years ago to teach English and has since met a woman who is now his girlfriend.

It is the reason that the younger Douglas decided not to leave Wuhan when word of the outbreak began to circulate.

“Well, I chose to stay because I should not bring my girlfriend or my dog with me. This is the state of affairs for many Americans. We can’t bring even our wives unless they’re American citizens they can’t come with us,” he said.

From his apartment in Wuhan, where he lives with his girlfriend, her brother, and pet lab Cubby, Perez said he only has about three weeks of food and water available.

Fortunately said Perez, grocery stores are open for business, but the supply is dwindling. He told his parents that the larger issue is the supply of masks, which is running low.

“We are having difficulties being assured that what we send will get to its destination because of the quarantine,” said mother, Christine Perez when speaking about the boxes of masks that sit in the living room of her home, but is afraid to ship to Wuhan.

The new number released on Wednesday shows that most of the deaths from the virus were in the epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei province, which is where Wuhan sits.