Wedding day gets disrupted to help fight virus

ZHENGZHOU－Coronavirus has disrupted the lives of many. It unexpectedly scrapped the plans of Swiss man Raphael Zumsteg, who was set to get married on Feb 9 in his bride's hometown of Pingdingshan, Central China's Henan province.

Staying in his father-in-law's house over the past month, he recorded local life and posted the results on Twitter and Tik Tok, drawing a big crowd of fans, and catching media attention.

He was brought under the spotlight back in his country, after the Zurich Highland Daily and Swiss TV station Tele Zuri featured him in their reports.

"Without coronavirus, I would have posted my wedding in China on Twitter and Tik Tok," says Zumsteg, who instead recorded the epidemic prevention in his father-in-law's neighborhood.

He says with video clips and tweets that he had intended to share his knowledge on the epidemic prevention with his fellow Swiss citizens.

One of his posts shows a quarantine worker in a protective suit disinfecting the neighborhood streets, which received more than 70,000 likes and over 1 million views on Tik Tok.

Zumsteg says at the beginning of the epidemic breakout, his family was more worried about his safety in China. Now, his wife has begun to worry about their family in Switzerland and kept sharing with them how to protect themselves against COVID-19.

The Swiss government on March 16 declared an "extraordinary situation" in the country, the highest level in terms of the Epidemics Act. All shops, markets, restaurants, bars, entertainment and leisure facilities in the country will be closed until April 19, with only medical institutions and food stores allowed to be open.

According to data released on March 16 by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, a total of 1,680 confirmed cases and 14 deaths have been reported in the country.

"China responded decisively in this anti-epidemic battle and took practical measures. It did take steps to take good care of everyone, making people feel safe," says Zumsteg.

"Residents are cooperating to stay at home as much as possible, receive body temperature checks and wear masks when going out. People keep a distance of more than one meter from each other when shopping in supermarkets," says Zumsteg, taking notice of all the things that he saw and learned while staying in Pingdingshan.

China is resuming work and production in an orderly manner as the epidemic situation wanes, he says.

"Now, how to prevent the epidemic is a problem that the whole world needs to face together. I will wait to make up for my wedding," he says.

Xinhua