Front Burner - One family’s fight to get airlifted out of Wuhan

Episode Date: February 5, 2020

When Megan Millward and her husband Lie Zhang left their home in Montreal to visit family near Wuhan for Lunar New Year, they had no idea they would be putting their small family, and two young children, at risk. When the coronavirus hit, the family were trapped under quarantine in the countryside of Hubei province and left with no idea about how or when they could return home. This Thursday, the federal government plans on airlifting Canadians out of Wuhan. Millward and Zhang want their family on that flight, but there’s no telling what will happen. Today on Front Burner, we hear their story.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Jamie Poisson. A Montreal family with two small children are fighting for a chance to leave the epicenter of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China. But they face a ton of unknowns as they prepare to leave for the airport to try to board a Canadian plane sent to evacuate citizens. Today, their story. This is FrontBurner. Hi, Megan. Hi, Lee. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. I

know it's very late for you. Hi, thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you for having us. Megan, tell me, where am I reaching you now? Where are you? We're in a village that is part of Jaopeng Town, which is approximately two hours under normal circumstances northwest of the city of Wuhan. And what brought you there? We come every year for Chinese New Year.

We spend about two weeks visiting our family. Yeah, and the extended family as well. Very extended family. Okay. And so how long have you been there for? Two and a half weeks now. Right. Yeah.

Well, two and a half weeks in China. We spent a couple of days in Shanghai, which is where the plane landed, visiting friends that we have there. And then we took the train to Wuhan, spent a day or two in Wuhan, which is where my in-laws live most of the year. And then right before the lockdown, we all got in a car. So, like, the two of us, our kids, and then Leah's parents and sister and her husband and kids. And we drove to the countryside where the rest of the extended family is. Okay. And can you tell me a little bit about what it was like in Wuhan before you left? At that time, it is getting serious. And we hear a lot of rumors just say, OK, they might close the city.

And at that time, nothing official. But it was scheduled for us to come to the countryside. And what's it like been like for you living in the countryside? Well, when we spend two weeks in China every Lunar New Year, there's usually three or four or five days of that that are in the countryside. So it's not like a foreign or unexpected living situation. It's really just the knowledge that there is a dangerous virus just out there. And the fact that we're not allowed to leave, just like having that hanging over you completely changes it. Had you been prepared to stay there as long as you have?

No, no. We weren't expecting to not have access to shops to replenish diapers and wipes and that sort of thing. And how are you doing for supplies right now? For food, we are okay because it's countryside. So my extended family, they grows all kinds of vegetables.

And we get the meat as well here. It's more for like diapers, wipes, and some made materials. The diapers is a bit of a big deal. There's a town nearby that has a shop that sells them and close there's a there's a blockade so we couldn't drive there but my sister-in-law or or her husband contacted the shop and they kind of like met near the barricade and did the transfer of money for diapers so we were able to secure one more package. And there was a less package as well. So it's been tricky just to get those basic necessities right now. You mentioned you have

two children. Can you tell me about them? So our daughter is six and our son is two, very recently two. Today. Like the two-year-old obviously is completely oblivious and we're we're glad of that and fiona she originally because last year she was here for for four months we have really good multiple entry visas and you can stay for four months and so she she wanted to stay in china with all of her family here because there's more family here than there is in Canada. And she stayed here for four months, and she was really hoping to be able to do that again this year. So she was distraught when he said, we have to leave because, you know, there's a medical

situation. I don't think she really understands the... The consequence. Yeah, the severity of the virus. But because we're stressed, we're sometimes a little bit more short with them um than we would normally be like shooing them out of the room when there's an interview or when ottawa calls asking for updates like that sort of thing so it's um it's it's not fair to them yeah we have to keep our three three phones in our pocket or next to our bed and

just make sure we don't miss any calls 24 hours. What's stressing you out the most? Without a doubt, it's having to leave the father and husband and like pillar of the family behind. Tell me more about that. So, we registered with the Registration of Canadians Abroad website way back, like a couple of days after the lockdown. And you indicate how many people are in your family. And it took many days before we got a response back saying that there was an evacuation planned. The first many days, like whenever we called or emailed, they said the only thing that I think that they were allowed to say to us was just keep up with the news and listen to the instructions of local authorities. And so when they finally did say there would be an evacuation, they said, do you

have any questions? And I said, yes, will, my husband be able to go with us, because he's a permanent resident, but not a citizen. And they said, unfortunately, no. And since then, basically, whenever we're in touch with them, we were we asked if there's been a change. And they said that they're they're trying to keep families together. But the Chinese government will only allow permanent residents out if they are accompanying otherwise unaccompanied minors. And we just that's not at all what we're hearing. Like we've been calling the provincial authorities here and they have confirmed that if the names are on the manifest, they are not going to hold people back. If the person is a permanent resident but has direct family members who are Canadian, like has parents or children or a spouse who is Canadian, then they will be allowed to leave. So we don't know how, why the Canadian government has received different information if that is the case. Right. And also the Chinese official also told us,

look, there's different cases from different countries and ones from Australia. And also there's a similar case like ours and they left. Everybody go. So I know that the foreign affairs minister has spoken about fighting for family unity and the Prime Minister has talked about the possibility of optioning a second plane. Asking for evacuation and there is space on the plane, that's why we have already got an option on the second plane. Although we've seen from experience in other countries that sometimes people who want to come aren't able to make it to the airport. So we'll make a decision based on how full the plane is when we come back, whether or not we exercise the option. But it certainly sounds like right now

you're getting conflicting information. On the one hand, the Canadians are telling you that the Chinese authorities won't let permanent residents leave. But the Chinese authorities are telling you if you're on the manifest, you can go. Right. Exactly. Yeah, we call the main times. How is that making you feel? Pretty mad. I don't have a lot of nice words or polite words to use. Okay, this plane is scheduled to take off tomorrow. What are you planning to do right now? Yeah, our deadline for getting to the airport is Wednesday night in China, and then the plane is supposed to leave Thursday morning. So the communications that we've received from the Canadian government say that it is our responsibility to secure our own transport to the airport. So we have a car that we had

borrowed for the two weeks anyway, from a friend here. And we've been requested to give the like name and ID number and all sorts of other information for our driver. And so our driver is, is my husband and we're just, we're going to get to the airport as early as possible tomorrow. We're going to leave right after breakfast and hope that things have changed or hope that if we can get the Canadian authorities who are at the airport as early as possible tomorrow we're going to leave right after breakfast and and hope that things have changed uh or hope that if we can get the canadian authorities who are at the airport and the chinese authorities who are at the airport to to talk to each other and discover that yes it is possible for permanent residents um to leave then like hopefully they can add him to the manifest and we can stay together and megan do you know if for certain you and your children are on this flight?

No. The email we received today said that we had been shortlisted, but it also said that space is not guaranteed. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is speaking about the government's plan to airlift Canadians out of China. And my overall message to Canadians will work for everyone. I know there's been talks about Canadian citizens, permanent residents. Obviously, the indication we got from the officials in China was that a Canadian citizen would be allowed to leave and to maintain family unity with respect to children.

So we're going to continue to press. I understand there's a number of permanent residents who would like to be repatriated as well. What can I say is that the health authority so far in China have indicated that they would only let people who carry foreign passports to leave and maintain some family unity. Lee, can I ask you, you know, you're a permanent resident of Canada. How does it make you feel that you can't get a clear answer right now

about whether or not you will be able to accompany your family on this flight? Right. Of course, I'm not feeling very well about this. I have been in Canada for almost 80 years. I own a small business. We pay the taxes and we do everything like Canadians do. And the only difference is I don't own the passport or I don't have the right to vote. Anything else is the same. I think we should be treated the same.

And especially we get a family with two kids. So, yeah, it's kind of hard to separate the kids. You mentioned you've been in Canada for eight years and you have a small business. What do you do? So we own a smart blinds business. We call it Neo Smart Blinds, and we develop the hardware and software. We design it in Canada, and we manufacture it in China.

And we get a few million dollars in sales. We created like six jobs in Montreal. And so I own that business so i don't know what it's going to happen if i stay here for many months that yeah so yeah so even if the government doesn't really value getting permanent residents back as much as it values getting canadian citizens back if he's stuck here and because of the time difference and the fact that he's not there in person and the business goes under, that's a bunch of Canadian citizens who are then unemployed. So, you know, the main concern for us

is family, but there is also this aspect that, you know, like our livelihoods and the livelihoods of others would be in jeopardy. Mm-hmm. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Megan, are you worried about the trip to the airport tomorrow? I know there have been reports about roadblocks.

Yeah. So we have been working very hard. So I called my sisters in North to say, okay, we need to contact the local authorities from the village and talk to the authorities just try really we need the local connections uh you know we we need to get out and so tomorrow early in the morning they will go out just to talk to them and hopefully yeah we could get out the first can hear the first block and i know there are probably five six blocks on the way and that we'll have to deal with each one okay yeah we have also heard reports um we're not sure if these are on our direct route but like we had heard reports of tractors being parked across roads um apparently

in some places they have like dug holes in the roads so they're we just we don't know exactly what to expect we did receive a document attached to the most recent email from the government it's a letter from the canadian embassy in beijing it's requesting safe passage for the bearer of the letter to the airport and then also requesting to allow the driver to be able to return to their point of origin so um hopefully that works but we also like on on our side we've been contacting local officials to to try to ensure that everybody at all the roadblocks um is is aware that we're heading for the plane and that they let us through. Okay, so essentially, as you embark on this journey tomorrow to try and get to this plane, there are a lot of unknowns for you.

The journey to the plane and then what might happen at the airport with your family. Absolutely. We're going to listen now to the Health Minister, Patty Hajdu, in Ottawa. Let's listen. Any symptoms that would be, any respiratory symptoms that are similar to cold or flu symptoms, runny nose, sneezing, coughing. Those are the kinds of things that we'll look for as well as temperature checks. I know also the Canadian government is saying that you'll have to go through some kind of screening if you make it onto the flight. And that anyone showing symptoms won't be allowed on the flight.

Do you think that that's fair? I think it's very fair because it's very reasonable. We don't want to get the other people infected. And also we have been quarantined for almost two weeks on the countryside, and we're pretty sure we're pretty sure that we're we're not infected but uh yeah i definitely i can't stand why that's needed right yeah um apparently they will also be checking regularly while we are on the plane and if anyone is found to have symptoms they will get off the plane when it stops to refuel

vancouver and be taken into medical care there. And yeah, we're totally fine with all of that. We think it's very reasonable. We're going to take precautions. Do you worry about getting infected on the journey to the airport or during this trip? On the journey to the airport, I don't think so. Yeah, we don't really talk to people it's just like you know the people block the roads just the checkpoints yeah just five let's

say five checkpoints and uh you know we'll probably talk to them in a distance must go home so we should be safe we are i think we are supposed to show them the the letter on our phone so there's there's that but i think the risk is low. As far as the plane goes, yes, there is a risk, but I think it's small. And also we're heading towards a place that has more than sufficient capacity to handle any cases that might occur. So the risk of contracting the virus on the plane, I feel, is still a safer bet than staying here in the countryside and risking contracting it here and then not having access to hospitals because they're far away and they are way overloaded already. Megan, let's say you do make it on this plane with or without your husband. Has the government spoken to you about the conditions of the base that the people on the plane will be quarantined in for two weeks?

How are you feeling about that? I don't remember if the email described the conditions. They did name it. I think it's the Yukon Motel. And I looked it up on the internet and it looks fine. Like I'm not worried about the amenities. I'm actually looking forward to, you know, lots of hot water and dry towels and that sort of thing. What is a little bit concerning is the social isolation that they're talking about, that we won't be able to interact with anyone else, like with any of the other families or travelers.

So what we do know quite clearly from the virus behavior is that the outset of transmissibility is 14 days. And that's why we've placed all passengers under a 14 day quarantine to be certain that they won't develop symptoms and the virus during the time in which they readjust. Obviously, they're doing this in an attempt to limit any spread that might happen if there is someone who's infected but not showing symptoms. And they've said, I think that there will be a mental health staff on hand to support people with the like stress or trauma of things that we might have experienced here in China, or also the stress of being locked in a room with your kids for 14 days. being locked in a room with your kids for 14 days.

And I imagine too the stress of, you know, possibly you being separated from your husband. Exactly. Exactly. I feel like if we're there together, we can at least, you know, talk each other through it and take turns with the kids. But if it's just me, like I'm definitely going to be availing myself of the, you know, counseling or whatever it is, because it's, it's a, it's a reasonable time in light of the circumstances, but it's still a really long time to be stuck in one room. Okay. I want to thank you both so much for taking the time to speak with me today. And I wish you the best of luck tomorrow. And I hope that you take good care of yourselves and we'll certainly keep in touch. And I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you, Jamie. Thank you, Heavenos. OK, before we go today, an update on a story we covered a while back about a bill to mandate sensitivity training for judges that preside over sexual assault trials. died over sexual assault trials. Former interim Conservative leader Ronna Ambrose put it forward way back in 2017 and it passed the House right away with lots of support, but then languished in the Senate. Well, some news. On Tuesday, the Liberals, with Ambrose's support, put forth another very similar bill.

Ambrose, who recently announced she is not running to lead the Conservative Party, said she is expecting it to finally pass with the support from all parties. That's all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner and talk to you tomorrow. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.