The Young Reporter

Residential communities in Shenzhen are implementing closed-off management, some entrepreneurs at Peak Boulevard Estate long for work resumption due to concerns of financial losses of enterprises. "294 people's temperatures were tested, 0 shows abnormal..." After reading the daily community disease-prevention briefing, Tian Bao, the owner of a winery, as well as the resident of Peak Boulevard Estate, started his another closed-off day with the latest news of coronavirus pneumonia on social platforms. The COVID-19 coronavirus was found in Wuhan in December 2019. It first broke out as an "unknown pneumonia" at the Huanan seafood market and quickly spread throughout China during the next 2 months. Many countries in Southeast Asia, Europe, North America and even Africa were also affected. Up to now, according to the official daily announcement of the National Health Commission of China, there are around 57,900 existing cases, over 2000 deaths were reported. Shenzhen has cumulatively confirmed more than 400 cases, ranking at the top in Guangdong province. "Few people are going out now because everyone is afraid of the virus," said Zhang Li, a resident of Peak Boulevard Estate, "I only went out for some necessities which I couldn't buy from online stores. My family hasn't been out since the end of January."   Shenzhen Headquarters for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia Epidemic Caused by Novel Coronavirus officially announced the implementation of closed-off management in all the residential communities in Shenzhen on February 7. The property service department of Peak Boulevard Estate took actions on February 5th - unnecessary visitors are restricted from entering the community, residents have to declare their information through a Wechat program named "i Shenzhen" and use a specific system authentication code for entrance.  "We receive a daily report from the property services department, it concludes what the staff has done to prevent …

Amid the shortage of sanitary equipment, the newly elected district councillor Jimmy Sham in Lek Yuen area has been distributing masks to the residents in his district.  With most of its residents being elderly, Jimmy Sham is worried that such an old area would have a higher chance of coronavirus outbreak. “As the elderly are having poorer immunity than normal people, they are more likely to catch diseases. So if the coronavirus is spread here, that would be a big issue.” However, elderly in the estate usually have less social resources to catch up information for buying masks. Ms. Chan is among them. The 64-year-old woman has reused her surgical mask for a week, and she was going to use it again tomorrow. "We really don’t have many left at home. And we need to spare some for my son because he needs to go out to work everyday." "Some people have donated a few boxes of masks to us. We are figuring out how to distribute them in a relatively fair way, as we can't help them all," said the councillor. In order to benefit more people, they unboxed all the masks and repacked them for every 10 masks. Instead of distributing the masks to all the residents, they registered for around 600 residents who have asked for help, and spare enough masks for them.  Ms. Chan has got two packs, in a total of 20 masks, for her 3-people family. She was happy about the service of the new district councillor. "He is helpful as he knows we do not have enough masks." However, the method of distribution has aroused dissatisfaction among the community. A 78 years old man complained that he did not know they were distributing masks, therefore he didn’t register beforehand. "We have already tried …

The wide-spreading coronavirus has shattered the city. In fear of getting infected, people have been avoiding leaving their homes, even many companies have started the "work from home" arrangement. Unlike other districts in Hong Kong, the streets in Tai Po are filled with people, rushing from place to place to buy as many necessities as they could. With rumors of the coronavirus that would last for months spreading around the city, people are hoarding necessities in preparation for sudden self-quantization.  

Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, people are anxious about it. To prevent themselves from getting the virus, they started to panically purchase medical and cleaning supplies. Some other daily necessities such as toilet paper have all been snatched as well. People now have high demands for medical products. However, their demands can’t be met due to the supply shortage. To soothe the problem, some stores have decided to sell the goods at a low price or even give it out for free to people who are in need.  

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.