Monday 24^th February, 2020 1230

What did I say about evacuating natives ages ago just after this bug broke out? Rescue your people and bring the infection into your country. Four new cases from the Diamond Princess evacuees in the UK.

Mind you, I nearly had a heart attack this morning (got up really late as I stayed up to listen to the England game last night) and checked the Coronaometer. It was showing 984 new deaths in China during the last 24 hours! Thankfully someone screwed up because now that has been revised downwards to 150, still a large number but less concerning than nearly a thousand a day. Mind you, if you are one of the 150 it really doesn't matter to you how many others went with you. You're still heading for the crematorium.

There's a great deal of hope being pinned on the weather warming up for summer. They believe it will simply fizzle out because the nasties can't last very long in the heat. There are though now signs that Beijing is starting to relax ever so slightly some restrictions. Efforts are now being concentrated on getting the delivery infrastructure back up to full capacity, with delivery firms being exempted from road tolls and checks when entering residential areas, with drivers merely having a temperature check and their vehicle disinfected.

Being (I think) typically western, I am not the most patient of people and I think I have conveyed my sense of frustration with the situation quite amply. Now, the Chinese stoical psyche is legendary but even that only goes so far. I have had many teachers and students emailing me expressing their own feelings and they are, surprisingly given their normally almost bovine placidity (and that is not in any way said insultingly) in accepting their lot, feeling every bit as hacked off as I am.

I think everyone realises the measures taken are in fact necessary (and I see today Italy has sh*t itself and is doing exactly the same!) but it's a bit like medicine – it tastes disgusting and you don't want to drink it but you know you have to. And now a Chinese pensioner has tested positive after twenty-seven days, blowing the fourteen day incubation period theory right out of the water.

In other news, Wuhu Alice has been refused a place at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she applied to study for her doctorate. They said they only had a “limited number” of vacancies and competition was intense. The places are probably limited because half the place was trashed in the democracy protests!

Sadly it appears she is abandoning the idea and wants to start earning. Hopefully she will at some point in the future resume her studies because she is so close.

1800

A brief moment of joy a short while ago!

We were going out to the little supermarket (too late to bother with BHG, we'll do that tomorrow) and Jody mentioned she had heard two women talking about the restaurants having reopened. On the walk to the ATM we could both smell food cooking and with Jody going to foot the bill for dinner cooked by someone other than me, I was rather looking forward to maybe some sweet pork, prawns or sashimi.

There's bugger all open still, the smell must have been coming from someone's home!

So I am cooking later. 

Easy enough and satisfies her craving for rice and Chinese food made with vegetables. I have a feeling I might like it too, which helps!