Coronavirus in Asia - for those who live there

[AsiaTruly]

What is the situation where you are?

Here - Singapore. School is taking temperature, travel disclosure and enforced leave of absence for anyone who has been to, or had a visitor from, mainland China.

People seem to be mostly going about their lives, but many in masks. Coronavirus is topic of conversation no. 1.

I'm not sure what we all really think will happen next. Singapore has done an incredible job of confining it and tracing. But is it confined? Who knows.

Friends in China are in a very different situation. Some stuck on holiday after cny. Some on lockdown.

Friends in Malaysia, similar to Singapore really.

How are you guys all doing?

DS is studying at uni in Indonesia. Seems to be a breezy approach there with few to no cases reported. Will be relieved when he returns next week.

Singapore also and the panic buying is driving me potty too. It's first world problems but I'm supposed to be making a milestone birthday cake this week and cannot find flour anywhere! But I've been very impressed by the temperature checking here - I took my kids to a government building on Monday and we were all checked going in, having to write down our names and corresponding temperatures along with a declaration. Elder DD is in school and they are also being very cautious so I feel she's very safe.

Latest update for Hong Kong - Education dept just announced schools closed til at least March 16th. All very sensible I'm sure but home schooling for even longer period is going to drive me nuts!

Just heard from our school in China that they are working on a return on 2nd March, but I doubt that will happen.

Can I gatecrash? Used to live in China (Shanghai), serial expat, currently in Europe. We are in the midst of sorting contract for internal work relocation to Singapore. I know the city well, have worked there before (many years ago), so no concerns in that sense, dead excited - initial conversations started December, came over in Jan for look-see, secondary age kids accepted into 2 good schools after a bunch of assessments.

Have a question to you all though - given current situation, would it be savvy of us to put off the move for a few months if there are day to day "life" challenges? Currently supposed to be moving in July - if you had the choice would you put off a move until Xmas for example? Any thoughts appreciated, it's all top secret here so I have no-one to talk to!!

@backatschool depends a bit on age of your kids but for me a September school start is always preferable especially for older kids who need to settle into friendship groups.
I personally think SIngapore are being sensible and so far not being too hysterical. But I also think it's a waiting game, I'd see how things are at the end of March and then decide. Do you have a deadline with the current school in terms of handing notice - they maybe sympathetic given the virus and the global caution.

backatschool I think you should still come in July. As pp said it's being well handled here on the whole and is not hysterical. If your school has an August start it's the best time to come

I'd agree that July would be a better time. By the summer, this thing might be everywhere anyway and if you have spaces in a good school, I'd take them. It would harder to find spaces in January, I hear they are hard to find in SG

Thanks all, really appreciate the insight. You are totally right, the kids have been to several different schools now and it gets harder and harder as they get older. We've done Christmas moves in the past, and it is always harder than an August/September start. It's been quite a painful and stressful process getting them into our preferred schools, so it would be daft to stop messing with it now. This move will be hopefully our last for a good few years as it's a four year minimum contract. Two kids going into year six and year eight in August. We have just got confirmation this week that both have been accepted into Dulwich for August, or alternatively we are very fortunate in that the company would be willing to pay the debentures for Tanglin. Starting to see more and more Facebook posts or similar from friends of mine who are out in Singapore or Hong Kong or China and how they are being affected day to day by the virus, then stumbled across this thread so thought I'd ask the question! Thank you...

You've got a place at a great school there,and even better if youve got the option of Tanglin too. Come come, lots of us here and we're surviving 😁

@ploughingthrough

I wonder if this is all going to have an effect on the olympics?

One way of looking at it is that the government in Singapore has been brilliant in dealing with the virus - although there are more cases, I’d rather here than in another country that doesn’t have the infrastructure to control and treat confirmed cases. Yes the govt has been called controlling in the past, but at times like this I think it’s a good thing.

HK announced today that schools will stay shut until 20 April at the earliest 😱. Having spent the last month in France, we’re flying back to HK tomorrow as we are all craving being at home, having a sense of a routine, and we miss DH (who stayed behind because of work). Besides, it looks like a pandemic is upon us, so we’re as safe in HK as on the border to Italy 😁

Homeschooling the kids is bloody hard work. DD (11) is largely self sufficient, but DS (8) requires a lot of supervision. It’s relentless. I’m not looking forward to another 6 weeks of this.

On the positive side, it looks like food and TP shortages have eased off in HK. I saw a hilarious picture yesterday of bare Nutella shelves in Italian supermarkets. Seems “must haves” vary by country.

We’ve got reusable masks that will last us many weeks, especially as we’re not planning on going out much.

As Covid-19 is now exploding through Europe and the school gates this week are buzzing with post-half term holiday makers newly landed from the Italian alps, just wondering how things are going over in Asia? Does it still feel stable and under control as it did when this thread first started a few weeks ago?

To be honest, despite the home schooling (which is driving me nuts!) HK feels ok for me. It's got a great health care system, to a degree theyve the experience of SARS and people are being overly cautious.

I mean home schooling, shutting offices etc for this long is probably overkill but I suspect cases would be a lot more if they hadn't.

My fear is that in a few weeks all the people who fled abroad will cone back with possible new infections. I can't see Europe or Americas shutting down and so I think it will spread more in those continents. Having said all that sensible precautions should be fine to stop full blown hysteria.

Here in Japan the government have been criticized for their poor handling of the situation so far

Today, they just called for sports and cultural events to be scrapped or curtailed for two weeks.

All Schools in the northern island of Hokkaido will close temporarily.

As for the Olympics, planning and preparation are continuing as before.

In my daily life, my work have said we can WFH if we want, and other companies have told workers to avoid rush hour trains etc.

Who knows how things will go but the next two weeks will be critical to see how Japan will handle this.

Breaking news from Japan - all schools will close nationwide from next Monday until the end of March.

Many firms are allowing WFH which is usually unheard of here.

Hopefully they can contain the virus in the next two weeks...

Singapore feels stable and mostly calm. There seems to be 1-3 new cases each day and the same restrictions are in place: no large gatherings of people, lots of temperature taking, quarantining for anyone that's been to China and Now South Korea. Tourism is suffering from no Chinese visitors and general caution- I just got back from a holiday to Malaysia - the planes were both half empty and there were no queues at any attraction.
I am sorry to see it unfolding in Europe and hope it can be contained.

Like the pp, I wonder if the people who escaped Asia a few weeks ago will it come back with the virus!
Working from home is mind numbing and my kids morale hit a new low when I told them we wouldn't not be back till 20th April.

Actually, in Japan, the PM has recommended all schools close until spring break, but it is up to the schools and school boards to decide. I believe Kyoto has decided to keep its schools open for now. Others are deciding what to do. Abe has received a lot of criticism for his decision. A lot of people are unhappy. I’ve seen photos of people stockpiling toilet paper and waster, but it depends on the area. Masks and hand sanitizer are pretty much sold out everywhere.

Water not waster 🤦‍♀️

Toilet paper in Japan too??? Why oh why?

BlackCat yes you are correct - it was a recommendation not an order.

However, now things got serious!

they just announced that they will close Disneyland Tokyo from tomorrow until 15 March

No!! Not Mickey!!

I just feel bad for anyone who isn’t going to get paid during this closedown. I guess salaried workers will still get paid, but what about part timers? It’s very hard and very stressful.