A FORMER teacher from Worcestershire who now lives in China says he faces another 19 days in isolation.

Bob Allison, former teacher from the Chantry High School, has been in self isolation on a school campus for over twenty days due to the Coronavirus.

Worcester News:

Mr Allison said: “I believe I am coping quite well considering the circumstances. The low point was a few days ago when new measures were introduced here in order to limit the spread of the disease.

Worcester News:

“This means there is a strict restriction of movement of people and vehicles. Each neighbourhood unit has a committee of people controlling who can leave the compound. Households are only permitted to allow one family member to go shopping for essentials and only one visit on alternative days. There is only one way into each compound as the others are all blocked off. People are advised to stay in their homes and they are regularly medically checked to see if they are showing any signs of the virus.

“No visitors are allowed into the residential areas. Any social gatherings are definitely prohibited. People returning to Yangzhou from their home towns need to register and put themselves into self isolation for two weeks.

“Otherwise ‘foreign’ traffic is not allowed to enter the city. I presume food is finding its way in because I am informed that the supermarkets are relatively well-stocked. As it stands, I am not directly affected by the measures because I do not live in a residential compound. I could possibly come and go when I like but I have only ventured out from my campus once over the last 17 days. One clear observation is how deathly silent it is.”

"I felt a little disheartened by the news that the return of the students to school has been put back to the beginning of March which in reality means that I would have at least another 19 days of isolation. However, I am filling up my days quite nicely by keeping busy.”

"I am also writing a lot of emails. This gives me the opportunity of thanking all of my Chantry colleagues and former students for their lovely emails. The generous comments have been much appreciated. I was overwhelmed by the response to the initial newspaper article.

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"I definitely have plenty of food so therefore not suffering any hardship apart from the enforced solitude. I consider myself to be very lucky when compared with others, especially in Wuhan.

"In conclusion, I continue to have faith in what the Chinese Government are doing in containing the virus. Hopefully, we will be back to normality in the near future."