My name is Abdel D., I am a Cameroonian student but I am currently in China to continue my studies. To be more precise, I’m in Jingzhou. I arrived in China in the year 2019.

One evening I returned to my university dormitory being a little unwell. I suffered from a fever, a dry cough, and flu-like symptoms. When I fell ill, I was thinking of my childhood in Cameroon where I had contracted malaria. I feared the worst because this time it was COVID-19.

When I first went to the hospital, I thought about my death. My friends advised me to go back to Africa. But I said no matter what, I’m not going to bring the disease back to my country. I was initially placed in quarantine for 14 days in my university dormitory. As soon as I was evacuated to the hospital, I was already close to death. For 13 days, I was in isolation at a local Chinese hospital. I was treated with antibiotics and medicines used to treat patients with HIV. After two weeks of treatment, I started to show positive signs of recovery. The CT scan showed no sign of the disease.

My medical care was covered by the Chinese government. I’m not going to go home until I finish my studies. I think it is not necessary to go home because all my hospital costs were been covered by the Chinese government. We are sons and daughters of Africa, but Africa does not want to help us when we need it. I am very grateful to the Chinese government for treating me and covering all my hospital costs. And I will always work for them because they have done a lot for me.