A city in hiding

9th February 2020: 
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I’ve never known the streets of Hong Kong look so quiet.. this bustling city, as myself and most of the world know it to be, has gone into hiding.  My brother has done some work as a photo journalist and his previous observations have been of the crammed streets over such things as the umbrella protests which have twice been big news and of public concern and safety over there. This is the compete opposite. Noone is out, the shops are closing, and everyone outside of their homes is wearing a face mask.  While it sounds like an over reaction which we could never fathom over here in UK, it's hard to ignore what's happening in the place where my brother lives, and that is the only worry this brings me at the moment. It's hard to really understand the real threat of this new virus, but my only consolation is that Hong Kong dealt with SARS and I'm reassured by my brother that this was how they managed that then.  And eventually it was overcome, but not without loss of health and life. So I will remain mindful of that, even though I'm still feeling that it is too far away, in both geography and impact, for me to really raise an eyebrow just now, and still remaining optimistic that China will do all they can to contain what they are dealing with now..

Feb 13th 2020:

Flights are being cancelled out of Hong Kong, I hope my brother can get out of there. Plans for him to come to UK and then on to Portugal as planned is still hopeful, but I hope that these sanctions don’t impose on this! After 14 years in Hong Kong he has started to consider a move to Europe, and I have been helping him with enquiring and looking at properties online. We plan to go with Mum for a week in March when we have booked leave to look at some and see if it can work for him. I hope so much that this virus doesn’t come to Europe..