I am originally from China and have been living in the U.S. since 2002.  My kids were born and raised here and are proud to be Americans. I was recently in China, and I feel compelled to share what I saw there. 

Unless we take precautions like China did, I am deeply worried that the mortality rate from the coronavirus will be much higher in America than it was in China. The virus is particularly dangerous for elderly people and those with underlying health conditions, but younger and healthier individuals also can also suffer from severe symptoms and could die from it.  Old or young, no one is guaranteed to be safe. 

From December 2019 to February, I was in the Chinese province next to the Hubei province, the epicenter during the Coronavirus outburst.  Based on data up to March 2, the fatality rate in Hubei was 4.2 percent. 

Outside of Hubei, the fatality rate for the rest of the 22 provinces was only between 0.08 percent and 2.7 percent, mostly below 1 percent. 

Fatality rates for the remaining provinces remained low because the timing of the quarantine administrated, there were measures in place to support the daily needs of the people, tracking and alerting systems were in place for each confirmed case, and high traffic areas were sanitized frequently.

The mortality rate of coronavirus was in all of China at 2 percent overall due to the actions taken by the government, the collaboration of general population and 150,000 from all over the country went to the epicenter to support and cure.

Even though the disease occurred during the Chinese New Year, when people usually gather and celebrate, the only businesses open were supermarkets and pharmacies.

The quarantine guidance in China was that everyone should stay home and allow only one family member to go out, and only for necessary supplies every two days. 

All social activities and gatherings were cut to almost zero, voluntarily.

Almost all restaurants and recreational places were closed, with one large online store that kept running and making deliveries to residents.

All schools were closed initially and then re-opened with online courses offered.  Every day the statistics about the virus were published at the province level.  In each city, every confirmed case was traced for its pathway and potential infection, such that when and how would be analyzed and published for alerting purposes. 

Body temperatures were taken at the entrance of supermarkets, subways and highways exit.  People needed to provide contact information when taking taxis for potential back tracing notifications.

Because the government published daily statistics and showed the efforts and progress, the Chinese people realized the importance of staying home to prevent the further spread of the disease. 

Following the rules kept not only the families safer, but also the entire country.  The way the quarantine was carried out in China prevented the disease from spreading as rapidly as it is now spreading in the other countries.  

Countries that are not taking the same precautions and failing to establish guidelines to limit the spread of the disease will have higher infection and mortality rates than China did. 

Instituting a quarantine is unfortunately the best proven method of limiting the number of people who would be infected when the vaccine is years away.  In addition to sanitary measures such as washing hands, what people can do most to help is to limit their gathering and to stop all non-essential activities.  Local businesses should plan safe methods for pickups and deliveries. Schools and universities should be shut down to keep our children safe from harm and explore online course.  For cities where the disease outburst, those infected need to be triaged so that they can get the proper level of treatment and use appropriate resources.  The sooner a quarantine is instituted, the fewer disease epicenters there will be.  

Because the disease is spreading in the U.S., the awareness of the general public has to be built. 

People must understand that their behaviors will determine how the virus spreads, and they must be willing to make temporary sacrifices to their lifestyle.  Although it may seem inconvenient to implement a quarantine for several weeks, doing so, especially at this early stage, can stop the spread of the disease to avoid more extreme measures later, otherwise the disease could spread to thousands or even millions worldwide. 

Prevention is the best medicine. Now is the time to take action before it is too late.

A native of China, Tei Sei lives in Pittsburgh.