What started with us joking about Corona-beer-virus is now looking a bit serious. It’s impossible to know how things will pan out but for now we are keeping an eye on the news and health guidance and taking all sensible precautions.
Beijing is eerily quiet for CNY anyways but those people that are about are nearly all wearing masks now. Beijing is not currently (Friday 24th Jan) heavily affected by the virus but clearly people are spooked. I don’t know if it’s because of SARS and the government cover up or just social media, rolling news induced panic. From what I’ve read the only people really sick from this Coronavirus had serious underlying health issues. Or maybe it’s really serious and we should be concerned.
We’re using anti-bac, using face masks, avoiding crowded public spaces and big events. The kids are currently off school so we’re pretty cooped up at home. Lots of events in Beijing have been cancelled but we’d probably have avoided them anyway. We’re still planning on going to South Korea on Wednesday and looking forward to getting out of the city.
We’ll monitor things closely and keep you posted. For now though Happy Chinese New Year to family and friends. Here’s to good luck, good health and good fortune in the Year of the Rat 🐀 !
5061 Miles From Home 