The Young Reporter

Accompanied by her husband, Wang Qiuwen arrived at the Third People's Hospital of Yunnan Province. She joked around her husband and friends as usual, took a photo with 24 other allies, then left by taking the bus heading towards the airport.  To fight the expanding coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese authorities have sent medical teams from less-infected parts of the country to support hospitals in Hubei Province. Yunnan sent its first medical team with 25 health workers from the Third People's Hospital of Yunnan Province to Hubei on Jan 27. Wang Qiuwen is one of the nurses of the Yunnan medical team. "Once we decided to be here, we have prepared ourselves for the potential infection. The only thing I can do for my family is taking good care of myself.", said Ms Wang. She signed up for the team voluntarily, leaving her 6-year-old son, who is with mental retardation and asthma, to her husband. "My son's life was changed by the persistent bronchial infection after having pneumonia when he was small." said Ms Wang, "It (signing up to Hubei) feels more like my mission as a nurse." Ms Wang said interprovincial support minimizes cross-infection between health workers and the public. "We don't get in touch with anyone outside of the hospital so that we won't have such worries of cross-infection like local doctors, who would contact their family members." Bearing the burden of taking care of their child, her husband Wan Hong, a doctor, still strains to handle the enormous workload of coronavirus control in Yunnan.  "I supported her because I understand how hard the choice is for a health worker while facing such an epidemic." said Mr. Wan, "I have to stay optimistic being the one stayed at home. The family is on me now."  Doctors, defined as "Non-emergency …

HONG KONG- Browsing masks online at the middle of the night has become a daily route for Jeff Wong, who was trapped at home due to the Wuhan coronavirus. Buying hygiene products is now on the top of his priority, since there are 62 cases of coronavirus diagnosed until February 19.  Having limited storage of masks at home, Mr Wong can only purchase for extra masks --- but he found it difficult to do so, as the whole city is in panic. Influenced by the plague of SARS in 2003, Hong Kong people have been aware of epidemic prevention and started to buy hygiene products like medical masks since the start of January. A panic-buying spree for medical products even led to the shortage of masks, resulting in a dramatic rise in the price. Citizens have to search online for cheaper masks and restock information. Social media is one of the major channels for suppliers and stores to release information on the restock situation. Checking the Facebook pages of Watsons and Mannings has become a must-do event for Mr Wong everyday. According to the Consumer Council, the price of one N95 masks goes up to HKD $78 in some local drug stores. In comparison, the cheapest price for a box of 20 N95 masks is only sold for HKD $154 on the HKTVmall, a local online shopping platform.  "The price is more reasonable online, but the supply is still unstable." Mr Wong says. "The products would be sold out in a minute after it's restocked because there are too many people who want it." In order to purchase masks, Mr Wong not only keeps an eye on local websites, but also supplies from overseas mask processors through Amazon or eBay. "I have to stay up late to wait for the …

In Xinjinan garden, in one of the housing estates in Baoan, Shenzhen, a shed is built near the entrance of the garden for people to take their food and packages. When they come into the garden, the guard takes their temperature. As the coronavirus cases are still showing an upward trend in mainland China, people are forced to stay at home. Shenzhen, a city with the most ports in China, has been most affected by the outbreak in the Guangdong province. The number of coronavirus cases has exceeded 400 and even now surpassed Guangzhou. To reduce the human-to-human transmission, all delivery men and couriers cannot go into the housing estates, according to the latest policy. Individuals, who do not want to go to the supermarket, need to go downstairs to pick up their delivery.

Since February 1, Zhangjiakou government has required each residential community to form a coronavirus prevention team composed of at least 10 members to control personnel access and register residents' health situation, while due to the medical resources in short supply and limited joint members, community workers overworked only with basic protection. At the gate of some communities, temporary board houses or tents are built as epidemic checkpoints for community workers to check the identity card of the residents and detect the temperature of entering personnel. Some of them even continue working for 4 hours only with a table under the degrees below zero. "I put on 3 pieces of the warmest jacket in my home to resist cold weather," said Angela Zhang, the one assigned to the community to assist epidemic control work during the outbreak of coronavirus. "It's tough work for limited community workers." Aside‌ ‌from‌ ‌guarding‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌gate‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌community,‌  ‌she‌ ‌needs‌ ‌to‌ ‌distribute‌ ‌and‌ ‌collect‌ ‌the‌ ‌health‌ ‌registration‌ ‌form.‌ ‌The‌ ‌health‌ ‌registration‌ ‌form‌ ‌includes‌ ‌the‌ ‌names,‌ ‌the‌ ‌telephone‌ ‌number,‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌travel‌ ‌situation‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌residents‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌past‌ ‌two‌ ‌weeks.‌ ‌ ‌ "I‌ ‌paste‌ ‌the‌ ‌form‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌door‌ ‌of‌ ‌each‌ ‌household‌ ‌and‌ ‌remind‌ ‌them‌ ‌to‌ ‌fill‌ ‌it‌ ‌in‌ ‌by‌ ‌phone," ‌said‌ ‌Ms‌ ‌Zhang. Such‌ ‌work‌ ‌will‌ ‌repeat‌ ‌3-5‌ ‌times‌ ‌to‌ ‌get‌ ‌the‌ ‌effective‌ ‌response‌ ‌of‌ ‌each‌ ‌family." ‌ The community epidemic prevention work is facing a shortage of workers. Primary and secondary teachers are also required to be on duty at the gate of each community to assist community workers' work from February 1to 7.   "The secretary of our community joint committee has not been home for several days because of the work to prevent the epidemic," said Ms Zhang. Medical supplies in short cannot guarantee the basic needs of community workers. Ms …

  "This year's HKDSE examination is like a disaster," says Lam Ka-Yi, a 2020 HKDSE candidate.   On February 13, the Education Bureau announced the classes of all schools remained suspended before March 16, and on the same day, the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority announced the schedule of the 2020 HKDSE still yet confirmed. The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority and the Education Bureau will decide the HKDSE schedule in late February. Based on the latest development of infections caused by the coronavirus in the community, they will decide whether the written examinations can be conducted from 27 March as scheduled, or will be postponed to 24 April.  However, Ms Lam says she's worried that the decision made on a detailed HKDSE schedule will be too late.  "I'm just hoping the government can confirm an exact date and plan on DSE examinations as soon as possible, as my study plan is now laying behind what I expected because of all the uncertainty on the exam schedule," says Ms Lam. The portion of Chinese- language speaking examination of the DSE examination scheduled for March 11 to 19 and English-language speaking and written exams conducted between March 27 and May 15 now might be delayed up to four weeks. The HKEAA also announced there is a portion that the written exams postponed with the cancellation of the Chinese- and English-speaking exams  Facing the situation that the  Chinese and English- language skills examination might be canceled, Ms. Lam thinks the arrangement is vague and disturbs candidates’ confidence dealing with the upcoming exams as the results might be affected once the speaking tests are canceled. "As a 2020 HKDSE candidate, I feel the urgency to practice my oral skills and do mock paper exercise in this remaining month. However, I'm disappointed that …

Coronavirus is spreading in Hong Kong. Since the Lunar New Year, local  residents have been searching for surgical masks, hand sanitizers and disinfectant. Three weeks after the lunar new year, the supply of face masks is still under the demand. The Hong Kong government tried to purchase surgical masks from other parts of the world but they still cannot provide a stable supply of masks. Some Hong Kong residents are panicking about the lack of face masks and spending hours queuing up for a box of masks. Some organisations distribute free face masks to elderlies in communities. The situation on valentine’s day is still the same.