What Hartlepool man quarantined in China has to say about coronavirus in the UK

Thomas Magson is a 30 year old PE teacher living in Guangzhou, which is one of China’s largest cities and also statistically one of the worst affected areas by the virus outside of Wuhan.

Today, he spoke to the Hartlepool Mail to describe what life was like in China and the restrictions the country placed on movement.

But he also explained how life was almost 90% back to normal and it could be the same in the UK – as long as people at home heed the Government advice.

Thomas said: “With the outbreak occurring during the Chinese New Year holidays, I returned to Guangzhou from a holiday in the Philippines during the lockdown. Returning to Guangzhou was difficult after several airline flight cancellations and I even considered flying back home.

“During the lockdown, people were told to stay indoors apart from going out for absolute essentials such as collecting medicine and so on. People however were able to order food and other essentials via delivery apps.”

China is fortunate enough to be a very technologically advanced and efficient country with supermarkets, grocery stores and even local corner shops linked to various delivery apps.

“Even at the best of times, people can simply choose to remain in their homes and have everything they require delivered to their doorstep.

“When staying indoors, I found myself binging series on Netflix that I wouldn't usually have time for. I am also pretty useless in the kitchen, so it gave me the opportunity to improve my cooking skills!”

Life, though, did begin to return to normal.

Thomas added: “Some places with the approval of the government, started to open in the city on the weekend of Saturday, February 22. I was lucky enough to watch the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight at the local 'British pub' with friends whilst enjoying a Sunday roast - in Guangzhou!

“Ever since, more and more places have begun to open and at the time of writing as mentioned in my Facebook post, 80-90% of places have reopened and the city has largely returned to everyday life - barring schools which remain closed. I am currently into my 7th week of online teaching.”

But despite getting back to normal life, China is still taking the virus threat extremely seriously, said Thomas.

“After allowing places to reopen, the country has enforced a variety of checks when entering public places to prevent another outbreak.

“Temperature checks are required everywhere, masks must be worn in public, regular police checks and certain places require you to scan QR codes to track recent whereabouts.

“I was refused entry to my local gym as I had not been back in the country more than 14 days. Even now after being able to enter, I am disinfected upon arrival by staff in addition to all the other previously mentioned checks.

“Last week I was also refused entry to one of the cities largest shopping malls as they had extended the check to 30 days. This has been crucial with controlling the spread from people entering from other countries.

“Even now, some of my colleagues who have recently returned to the city have been placed under mandatory quarantine in their apartment or hotels as the country bids to stop a second wave.”

Having lived through all of this, Thomas had a message for people in the UK.

“My advice to people back home is to simply take on board the government advice and stay at home.

“I can appreciate it is hard, but it is the only way we are going to beat this and stop the spread. I can imagine the prime minister will soon enforce a lockdown, much like China did. It might be daunting but good will come from it.

“In terms of staying indoors and a potential lockdown, make sure to have regular communication with friends and family via FaceTime and Skype etc.

“Try to keep fit and active. There are plenty of home workouts floating around YouTube at the moment as I found out when I couldn't access my gym here. Try and use this opportunity to learn something new and better yourself someway.

“I wish I had ended up in the Hartlepool Mail under better circumstances but hopefully this message improves people's spirit and helps them understand that there is an end to this madness.

“I have already booked my annual flight home for the summer and I'm still hoping to have my regular summer holiday home in Hartlepool with family and friends.”