Sean, who didn’t want to give his last name, said it was “incredibly eerie in Beijing today”. The 34-year-old manager of an English language school said there was heavy snow and few people on the street. “I worked from a cafe today, and was the only one inside.”
He described the Foreign Office’s advice to ‘leave China’ last night as “a huge over-reaction and disregard for expats that actually live here and call China their home”.
Sean added: “It’s not simply a matter of hopping on a plane, it’s a huge undertaking. It seemed to be a decision disconnected from the reality.”
He pointed out that Beijing is thousands of kilometres from Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak. “It seems strange to refer to China as a whole, we are talking about a country almost the size of Europe, and to evacuate the entire territory seems a bit much,” Sean said.
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Some Britons in China have been in touch with the Guardian to say they have no plans to leave the country any time soon.
Sharon Moan, a chemistry teacher who lives with her husband and two children in Shanghai, said she is baffled by the foreign office’s advice.
“Life here is very calm. We have few restrictions and feel that everything the local government has put in place is for everybody’s benefit. We actually only began to panic when we read Western media news reports that do not reflect what is happening here. We don’t feel it’s necessary and many of our colleagues feel the same.
“We feel unsupported by the consulate as there is no clear explanation as to why they have made this announcement. This is our home and the foreign office hasn’t actually given us a good reason to leave it. We have no plans to leave and will carry on regardless.”
Dr Rob Burton, a 65-year-old academic living in a state of self-quarantine in Hangzhou with his Chinese wife, said he is under no illusion that she would be allowed entry to the UK.
“I have a life here and my semester at the Communication University of Zhejiang is due to start on 24 February. I feel that the attitude by the foreign office towards British nationals who are married to foreign spouses is toxic. I’m not going to say goodbye to my wife and leave her stranded on her own. Who would do that? It would actually be easier for me to get my English dog, Snooky, and Chinese cat, Fluffy Bum (named in honour of Spike Milligan), home than it would my wife.
“I was actually in Wuhan in November so have had a few weeks of wondering if I have been infected. We have been inside for 15 days now and have only been to the supermarket twice. It becomes a psychological test as you become more stir crazy as the rumours mount up. That said, there is a huge effort going on by ordinary Chinese people which I don’t see much about in the foreign press.”
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Israeli media is reporting around 15 Israeli citizens are on the cruise ship. The public broadcaster, Kan Radio, interviewed one of the Israeli passengers on board.
Q: Hello Nicole Ben-David. We’re calling to ask how you guys are managing while stranded and in quarantine at sea.
“We’re well. A bit confused, a bit worried but, all in all, we’re doing well. We were supposed to disembark yesterday and to finish our 15-day tour. They informed us that it seems that we have an epidemic. They examined all of us. This morning they informed us that they had found ten people who were infected. As of 6:30 this morning, we’ve been asked not to leave our rooms. We’re inside the rooms.
They’ve given us food and beverages. They gave us free internet access beginning yesterday or the day before, when they announced that they were beginning the examinations. This morning they informed us that we were going to have to remain on board the ship for at least 14 days in quarantine. It isn’t clear to us whether we’re going to have to remain in our rooms for 14 days or on board the ship. For the time being, we’re in our rooms and we’re not allowed to leave them.”
Q: Are any of the people who were diagnosed as being infected with coronavirus Israeli?
“They haven’t given us information about who the people who got sick are. Out of the Israelis, we’re a family with ten people, and I know that there are another two [Israeli] couples. We saw them completing the tour. As far as I can tell, none of the Israelis have been infected.”
Q: How anxious are you, finding yourselves quarantined inside a cabin on board a ship out at sea? That must be an unpleasant experience.
“We’re trying to keep our sense of humour and our cool. This is just the first day. As long as we’re healthy, and aren’t sick, and we’re getting food and beverages and the TV works… we’re trying to remain optimistic and to remain calm.
“To tell you that this isn’t something that makes me anxious? It does make me anxious. Yes, it does. But we don’t really have much in the way of choices.”
A hotel worker in the northern Italian city of Verona has tested negative for coronavirus.
The woman, who was isolated after coming down with a fever, is a member of staff at the same hotel where a Chinese couple being treated for the virus in Rome stayed for one night.
Doctors at Rome’s Lazzaro Spallanzani hospital for infectious disease said the couple were in a “stable” condition after their health deteriorated on Tuesday. Twenty people who had contact with the couple, from Wuhan but who have not shown symptoms of the virus, are still under observation at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Italy’s three-month suspension of flights from China, Hong, Macau and Taiwan sparked a diplomatic row with Taiwan.
A representative from the Taiwanese government has urged Italy to drop the ban, arguing that the island is not part of China and that cases of the virus there have been limited.
Italy on Wednesday began scanning passengers arriving on all international flights at its airports. Thermal scanners had previously only been used on passengers arriving from areas affected by the virus. At Rome’s Fiumicino airport, the checks have also been extended to domestic flights.
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African governments remain under pressure from citizens to arrange their evacuation from China amid fears of the outbreak reaching the continent.
So far, most have resisted the calls but Kenyan officials have said they will evacuate 85 of their citizens who are under lockdown in Wuhan city, when restrictions on movements are lifted by Chinese authorities.
The Star newspaper in Nairobi reported the decision along with comments from Kenya’s ambassador to China, Sarah Serem, who last week said Kenya “will not risk further infection by flying any citizens back from China on the basis that it would be better if Kenyans in China were monitored and protected as China found a way to terminate the highly infectious virus.
“I don’t think Kenya is ready to deal with the virus. The government of China is in a better position to deal with the virus and bringing Kenyans in China back to Kenya will only further expose the rest to the danger of infection,” the newspaper quoted the ambassador as saying.
Serem’s comments underline the significant concerns over the potential consequences of an outbreak of the virus in Africa. The World Health Organization said yesterday the coronavirus outbreak “is a high risk globally and Africa has close ties with China and other Asian countries”.
Dr Michel Yao, the emergency operations programme manager in WHO’s regional office for Africa, said health officials were prioritising stopping transmission from affected countries and ensuring that capacity exists to isolate and to provide appropriate treatment to any confirmed cases.
“What we are emphasising to all countries is that at least they have early detection because we know how fragile is the health system in the African continent and these systems are already overwhelmed by many ongoing disease outbreaks,” Yao told reporters.
Many airlines have suspended or restricted flights to China from Africa, where there is yet to be a confirmed case of the virus.
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All arrivals to Hong Kong from mainland China will face ‘compulsory quarantine’
AFP is reporting that travellers from mainland China will be forced to face ”compulsory quarantine” when they arrive in Hong Kong.
AFP news agency
(@AFP)#BREAKING All arrivals to Hong Kong from mainland China to face ‘compulsory quarantine’: leader pic.twitter.com/gUviN92VMZ
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