Coronavirus - those in China, and general discussion

[889]

America is barring entry to anyone who's been in China in the past two weeks. The bar does not apply to returning U.S. citizens, permanent residents or their immediate family, but if they've been in Hubei in the past two weeks they'll be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Air travel between the U.S. and China is also being limited.

[Dawei3]

7 hours ago, Ruben von Zwack said:

But the number of "recoveries" is also going up, no? Is that a good sign

This should be good particularly for health care workers.  That is, if a recovered person is immune to the virus, they're extremely valuable in healthcare because they won't get infected again

 

However, I've yet to see data on this and don't know if initial exposure protects you from subsequent exposure.  Usually you develop immunity to viral diseases (as long as the virus doesn't mutate in a significant way).  

 

You have a nice city.  I was there last November for business.  However, I left just when the Christmas decorations were going up.  I like German Christmas decorations.  

 

Now back to the virus.... 

[艾墨本]

Just got off the high speed rail coming back to Shanghai. On the way to board my train the roads had toll booths turned into temperature checks. Once at the station, every ticket check also checked temperature. The whole station smelled of bleach. After getting off in Shanghai, another round of temperature checks. At the subway there was no one there... the line barricades were dismantled to let you through directly. I’d estimate roughly 99% of people have face masks on. That is not hyperbole.

 

Edit: also many international schools have pushed back start dates to March 2nd at the earliest. Some have begun online classes. 

[Flickserve]

Australia also now barring people from mainland China 

[roddy]

Delta expecting its suspension of flights to last till April 30. That’s an outlier, but gives an indication of how long this might run.

 

Anyone worries about the Oz/US banning entry from China news - if you have citizenship or (?) residency, you can still go home. 

[abcdefg]

19 hours ago, Dawei3 said:

If we plotted the usual flu, it could scare many as well.  In the 2018-2019 flu season, CDC says there were 35.5 million illnesses, >16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations and 34,200 deaths.  https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html   And this was a "good year", i.e., 2017-2018 had 61,000 deaths.  (just in the US)

 

And even though flu shots are free for most people in the US, only about half of those eligible bother to get vaccinated. Some hold to odd conspiracy theories that vaccinations are part of some Evil Empire plot, but most people simply fail to get that annual flu shot because they are lazy.  

[abcdefg]

6 hours ago, Flickserve said:

Australia also now barring people from mainland China 

 

The young lady I spoke about earlier in another post, was flying onward to Australia. Hope she got in before they locked the door. 

 

This is the previous reference: (Click the link.)

Spoiler

Still, I was not prepared for lots of passengers on my flight to be wearing those cheap plastic raincoats with hoods. They had the peaked tops pulled up over their heads in addition to face masks. Odd sight. Reminiscent of a KKK rally, since most were light colors, pastels and off-white. (I have only seen these rallies in movies.) The young lady sitting next to me was additionally decked out with disposable vinyl gloves and eye goggles as though she was preparing to do battle in the ICU. She was exquisitely well informed on the subject of this health crisis, and in fact would not shut up about it. 

 

[mackie1402]

Just got a phone call from Chinese Immigration office this morning. They asked if I've been anywhere recently, how I'm feeling and if I've got a temperature. Really didn't expect a phone call like that, but really quite reassuring. 

 

Now 98 confirmed in Hangzhou, and one just down the road from me. Luckily I stocked up and bought a new freezer the other week! 

[mungouk]

1 hour ago, mackie1402 said:

Now 98 confirmed in Hangzhou,

 

Could you advise where you're getting the numbers from, @mackie1402? 

 

I'm following 健康杭州 on WeChat but they only seem to be posting prevention and control tips.

 

I was meant to be moving to Hangzhou in early March but it's not looking too hopeful right now.  

 

Thanks

 

[Balthazar]

32 minutes ago, mungouk said:

Could you advise where you're getting the numbers from

 

This page will have what you're lookong for.

 

Canned meat and instant noodles for dinner today, here at the airport hotel in Shanghai. Glad we were allowed into the city, both the hazmat suit guys at the 高速公路 and the hotel staff determined that our temperatures were 正常, so hopefully we'll be flying back to Norway tomorrow. FinnAir has cancelled all flight to/from Shanghai from 6 February, so we will be making it by a pretty small margin.

 

 

 

[BanjoSlice]

1 hour ago, Balthazar said:

FinnAir has cancelled all flight to/from Shanghai from 6 February, so we will be making it by a pretty small margin.

I've read that some countries will ban entry to all foreigners who have been in China in the past two weeks. Does someone have an estimate on when this ban might end? Those who were here during SARS, how long did it take before life went back to normal(things like less masks, more outdoor activity, freely dining,etc)? Will appreciate some insights.

[Flickserve]

In Hong Kong during SARS, schools were reopened in the third week of May.

[Brassneck]

And when were they closed from?

 

 

[ChTTay]

14 minutes ago, Flickserve said:

 

In Hong Kong during SARS, schools were reopened in the third week of May

 

In Beijing, many international schools start doing some form of online/distance teaching and learning this week. The Beijing start date of “February 17th” is still being bounced around but I see Jiangsu and HK have pushed that to March. I’m sure the same will happen in Beijing if the numbers keep rising. We start online teaching from the 10th. Not sure how it will go. 

1 hour ago, Lance said:

I've read that some countries will ban entry to all foreigners who have been in China in the past two weeks. Does someone have an estimate on when this ban might end?

I think it definitely depends on those individual countries. I’ve read estimates of Wuhan reaching peak confirmed case within 10 days. Who knows though. 

[889]

My own planning would be a minimum of six weeks, a maximum maybe twice that. While hot weather should bring the epidemic to a close, it could well sputter out long before then depending on how it progresses.

[Flickserve]

1 hour ago, Brassneck said:

And when were they closed from?

End of March. Approx 50 days. 
 

I remember vaguely as we got a grip on the infection control protocols, the weather got warmer. Suddenly training a huge workforce in infection control in urgent conditions takes time and invariably, people being humans can make a slip up. That can happen even in carefully controlled lab conditions handling viruses. 
 

HK is a southern city so presumably in the north, weather would get warmer a bit later.

 

 SARS experience is the closest we can come to giving an educated guess on the progress. 
 

On the positive side, reduced movement of people and high awareness in the population are good factors. 
 

On the negative is the sheer number of potentially infected people. The size and speed has surprised everyone including those who deal with epidemics. There’s also the movement of people returning to work from their hometowns which could result in another spike of infections. 

[StChris]

6 hours ago, roddy said:

Delta expecting its suspension of flights to last till April 30. That’s an outlier, but gives an indication of how long this might run

 

This is the only thing that concerns me. Both my (UK) passport and visa are both due to expire mid-April. I was planning on returning home then, but the flight finder websites aren't showing any flights anymore. At one point last year I thought about renewing my passport and staying for longer, but with the British Embassy sending some of their staff home, maybe that won't be possible either. Maybe it will still be possible to get a new passport in China, but will just be a much slower process.I'm thinking about applying now, so that at least I have the option of renewing my visa and staying longer in the event that I am stranded in China with no outgoing flights come April.

 

Has anyone here ever renewed their UK passport from within China before?

[Flickserve]

11 minutes ago, StChris said:

Has anyone here ever renewed their UK passport from within China before?

It will depend on the postal service. You upload your picture on the website and can do the whole application electronically. However , you have to send the passport back to Liverpool which reissues the new one. They send it to you by registered post. Can’t remember if it was DHL. 
 

Turnaround was fairly good. About three weeks.  
 

However, now is the start of the peak time for renewals. People want to get their passport done for the summer holidays. 

[889]

If air travel is cut back, then postal and courier services will also be cut back. That is, getting your new passport from the passport factory to China may become difficult. Embassies/consulates can usually prepare some sort of temporary passport themselves, but that's not what you want for Chinese visa purposes.

 

Myself, I think I'd look into making some sort of arrangements ASAP. Bear in mind that many countries will not admit you with a passport due to expire in less than six months, and that may limit your options for leaving China: not a good situation.

[ChTTay]

55 minutes ago, StChris said:

Has anyone here ever renewed their UK passport from within China before?

Yes, took two weeks. You do it at same place Chinese people go for visas. Last I heard, very little online. Mostly lots of photocopies and a paper application. They take all your stuff off you then post it DHL back to the U.K. 

 

Both my friend and I have done it in Beijing and it took two weeks to be returned. I guess that might vary depending on time of year and, now, due to the corona virus.