Sunday 8^th March, 2020 1815

Today I went out. It was a refreshing change.

Mid-afternoon I finally finished the week's submissions, it would have been later if many students hadn't cheated by copying and pasting from the internet so I didn't even bother marking. They must have thought I was an idiot. They won't now! A couple of the “essays” were as good as I could have written. Not bad for a second language in your second year of university, eh???

Anyway, Jody had left plenty of her work to the last minute so didn't fancy the long trip I intended. Namely, China Tobacco ( I would have run out in about two hours time) and then Burger King. After all this time, it was like a new world!

The buses are still heavenly, or would be if the bloody windows weren't still taped open, because today it's back to freezing – no problems getting a seat. On the way I noticed many shops are now open. China Tobacco still hasn't got my brand and I just spent what I would normally pay for a month on my brand for ten days worth of another.

Almost all the shops in the Mall were open but I was only interested in Metro and Burger King. Metro now has more imported products but is not yet up to full strength. They did have pizzas though so tomorrow is sorted! Still the temperature rigmarole and route marches to exit then re-enter the mall to visit certain places, in fact in “Love Bread” on entry my hands had to be sprayed. Rather pointless as they had nothing I wanted and so I never did anything other than take a quick walk around and walk out again. Hands stayed firmly in pockets.

BK was open and you could sit inside. Lately the restaurants that had opened have made customers sit at separate tables. Sensible to an extent but I gather even families have had to have individual tables, so Dad is on one, Mum another, son another and daughter yet another – you get the point. They live together, arrived in the same car together but in a restaurant they might infect themselves! Had Jody and I gone out for dinner somewhere where this was the practice I would probably have sat as far away from her as possible and then held a very loud conversation with her. She'd have been mortified but the point would have been made. I understand the thinking, just not the execution. But it has to be said, by and large the measures have worked. However her two days here (for that read five weeks) have not seen either of us contaminate the other. We ain't going to do it in a restaurant.

I see Italy are following China's lead in containment. The Chinese abroad are being vilified by the less educated factions who believe false Facebook posts and their “knowledgeable” mates in the pub. The Chinese are all infected. China itself is being lambasted and yet although the virus was discovered here, some doubt has now been cast on where in fact it originated.

When H1N1 started in America, China never labelled Yanks as unclean and never apportioned blame. They never pointed the finger when the USA kept it quiet for six months before alerting the world and hundreds of Chinese died. The same cannot be said of the reverse in today's situation. Perhaps now that it truly is a global problem, not just China's when they could scoff comfortably at it, natural justice is being meted out. And there is no shortage of loo rolls, pasta or rice here!

I am not taking sides. Well I am, I am on the side of reason and humanity. There are countries I sometimes wish didn't exist because of the extremism. There are others that wage wars with no justification. But eventually I remember not everyone can be coloured with the same stroke of the brush.

Here the country is defeating the problem. I see panic elsewhere.

Loo roll, anyone?