Coronavirus: what’s really happening?

Beyond Today

BBC

News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2020

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A brand-new virus which causes severe lung disease has been detected in China. More than 100 people are known to have died there, and experts believe the death toll will rise. Coronavirus appeared in the city of Wuhan in December and the 11 million-strong population are being advised to stay indoors at all times. A new virus arriving on the scene is always a worry and health officials around the world are on high alert. In this episode we speak to Xinyan Yu, a journalist from Wuhan. She tells us how people in the city are coping, including her best friend’s mum who was taken ill after visiting the market. We also hear from Dr Josie Golding from the Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s major health research charities. Dr Golding tells us how viruses like the coronavirus spread and how we can prepare for them. Presenter: Matthew Price Producer: Duncan Barber Mixed by Emma Crowe Editor: Philly Beaumont

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:05.0	Hello, I'm Matthew Price.
0:08.0	This is Beyond Today from BBC Radio 4.
0:10.0	Every day we ask one big question about one big story.
0:14.0	Today, what's really happening with the coronavirus?
0:27.0	Picture this. It's night time in the city. The lights are on in the
0:37.0	the lights are on in the tower blocks and from the balconies and the windows people are shouting to one another
0:50.7	singing songs across the void between them to boost their morale.
0:55.0	Their words are echoing in the empty streets below. Now that's what one part of Wu Han sounded like last night.
1:10.0	11 million people live in the city. one part of Wu Han sounded like last night.
1:13.0	11 million people live in the city.
1:16.0	And they've been told to stay indoors as the people in charge there try and work out
1:19.0	how dangerous a virus that's already caused more than a hundred deaths actually is.
1:25.0	The coronavirus started in Wuhan. The scientists don't quite know yet how, but we'll get their
1:35.7	latest thinking on it in a bit. And it's now spread across China and to at least 16 countries.
1:44.0	So far, it seems that it affects older people,
1:48.0	more than younger people,
1:49.0	older people like the mother of Xinjiang Yu's best friend.
1:53.2	Every quiet moment I have, I'm checking online, I'm talking to my friends
1:57.2	to see what's going on in Wuhan.
1:59.1	She's a video producer at the South China Morning Post. She's from Wu Han.
2:08.0	All of her family are there. She had been looking forward to seeing them for Chinese New Year, but had to cancel her flight back home because of the coronavirus.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -1890 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.