The Covid19 diary of an expat in Hong Kong

As updated on March 19th, 2020.

In Hong Kong, We have alternate working days. In office we are total 10 staff. 5 come one day, another 5 the next day. Working in mark full day. All time spent outside home is spent mostly in mask, including elevators, passageways, meetings, parks, etc. Every family, society is taking very strict self-measure to avoid Covid-19. Kids are at home mostly. I take my daughter our once in a week for an hour to play or walk in free air. To get some sunshine if there is .! Kids parks are forced to close. Schools are closed Since Mid Jan( pre CNY). Will remain closed until June i guess. So basically the whole terms is gone. We are paying huge fees to school, and feel like being cheated. since hardly any education happens on-line via Facebook or WhatsApp or email. I am getting print outs of worksheets from web, to help her learn / draw etc. Lego toys to keep busy. Some TV / some you-tube. but they have their own limits. Kids get paranoid after few hours of boredom. When there is work from home, she has to be almost very quiet since mom-dad are working on computer and have ongoing regular phone calls. This pisses them off more. Work from home is also okay as long we do not have samples to check or files to manage..! There are not enough supplies of Sanitation stuff for 2 months. Buying things are exorbitant prices. No one dares to sneeze or cough.. ! we open our clothes as soon we enter home from outside, Every time we go out..! Every single time, even if its to buy loaf of bread. Then instantly all door knobs are sanitised, doors wiped, shoes spread with Dettol / etc.. hands instantly wiped with alcohol cleaners. Then we take shower..( its all as if ki koi marr gaya hai)...!! Imagine the number of clothes being washed, and there is not enough space to dry them up. Its still slight winters till date here..!  HK homes are tiny apartments.. mine is 650ss ft. With 4 ppl in ( including our house helper). We do not have balconies, so its just a set of windows that are gateway to world. People do not want to remain indoors. people do not want to meet anyone. No one wants to go to restaurants. No one wants to go shop to buy stuff, no one has any stuff..! No one wants to catch cold., no one wants to wash enough clothes., These times are super testing times for us. but HK is keeping fingers crossed. Thanks to the awareness in the community ..!! Together people survive here.., together they will perish if at all.!

there is much more to it.. as we progress. As a precautionary measure I had connected with parents and some family elders in India. There would be shortage of important medicines in India, as  I foresee. Dad has High - BP sometimes, and mom is super-duper diabetic.. I asked them to buy supplies for 2- 4 months. Later, these will be sold at premium. I am not sure about masks etc, availability in there. ow many people really use it and how many know how to use it. Once you have worn a mask, one is not supposed to touch either exterior or interior of it. e do not touch our masks anytime, except for adjusting the nose bridge. It tends to make my eye-glasses foggy after a while if not worn properly. This is highly irritating, since vision is blocked.  So, its of prime importance how a person is wearing the mask. We cannot spend huge money on masks since these are to be Disposable after every single use. Its advised not to wear re-usable masks. Wear them if it has a centre replaceable filter options.  Mask removing to be done only by holding the ear loop or strings. Once opened and you intend to re-use immediately( example spitting / drinking tea water / eating etc), then ensure you keep it folded between two fresh tissues. Not any other places. If mask is not intended to be re-used, its advised to tear it and dispose properly. Else you will raise the risk of it being picked up by rag pickers, washed and re-sold. !! While Surgical masks do the job, they have to be minimum 3-4 ply. India sent us a very poor quality 2 ply masks, which becomes transparent in 20 minutes of moisture post breathing. I had picked up a few boxes in Vietnam, before we returned to HK in late Jan..! They are 4 ply with strong moisture and outer layers.  REMEMBER DO NOT TOUCH THE MASK's OUTER or INNER LAYERS ..! we carry a set of hand wipes, a small bottle of hand sanitiser, a small alcohol spray, and our personal Thermos of Hot water / herbal tea. Whole family here , all 4 of us are dinking Hot lemon/ginger/honey/cloves/pepper mixed water , everyday thrice. Daughter is fed a spoon of chyawanprash every morning.  I carry my personal Water thermos and even does wife, if we step out of home. Government has closed all public water taps and shower facilities. Means, either you buy bottle or you drink your own. We do not prefer buying, since that would mean increased contact with Shopping or vending environment. Touching shop bottle, exchanging money, cash or card, pressing vending machine buttons, collecting the bottle / etc from machine or from a shopkeeper.. etc. All these involve a hand to hand contact which might not be direct , but still there is an indirect contact to goods and money. We use tissue to hold door handles, press elevator buttons, and flush urinals if used. I have not taken public services transport for past 2 months. almost. Not even a single day not even for a single journey. I walk to office for 35 minutes one way every time. ( since it avoids human interactions in closed spaces). I have been walking to work for past 3 years almost. We do not need our private vehicles here. Parking charges are as high at HKD3000 p.m. Public transport is very good and extremely reliable. But i prefer to walk. It has helped me keep my immunity and stamina in place. I walk even in extreme weather, be it rain or sunny. (keeping a change of clothes in my backpack).. We keep extra t-shirt in backpack sometimes just in case of emergency. We wipe our work desk and home desk every day twice. I use alcohol wipes to clean my table, chair, printer, and doors of cupboards where we keep files / folders in office. All of us here do the same. It’s the standard living norm. We call ourselves sick and do not come to work, at the first sign of illness of any kind. Be it even 5 sneezes back to back, or a patchy cough symptom. It might not be Covid-19, but whatever it is, why to spread and reduce immunity of others. !! Self-consciousness is best prevention of all.