Coronavirus in Chengdu

[Charlie]

In case anyone is living under a rock, the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) has massively disrupted ordinary life in Chengdu. As of this post, the situation in Chengdu is as such:

• Flights are still available in and out of the city
• Residential complexes have advised residents to remain at home as much as possible and limit interaction, group meals, and social events
• Most people returning from outside of the province or country will be subject to employer-mandated quarantine at home
• Now is not a good time to visit Chengdu. Wait until this situation resolves itself, which could be as soon as a few weeks

If you have any questions or information to provide, feel free to share it here. Stay safe!

Update: a Q&A has been published with more info: Life in Chengdu with Coronavirus

[Merior]

I was coincidentally back in the UK when it hit. I had booked a flight back at the end of March but expecting to have to reschedule. My wife is still in Chengdu and steadily going crazy with the confinement in our apartment. The management of our residential compound have imposed restrictions on departure/re entry to one person per household every two days. I gather this is common place.

My current problem is in acquiring M99 face masks, goggles and antivirus gel to upgrade my wife’s personal stock as even in the UK they have become in very short supple and are being sold at prices double and tripple their normal priceson eBay and Amazon. Getting them out to Chengdu by courier could be my next problem.

Daily situation reports are available from the World Health Organisation: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports

Chengdu/Sichuan specific reports are available though Chengdu Expats.

Update: a 10-part Q&A has been published: Life with Coronavirus in Chengdu

[Charlie]

Merior wrote:

I was coincidentally back in the UK when it hit. I had booked a flight back at the end of March but expecting to have to reschedule.

I came back to Chengdu on the 21st and by the 24th it was looking pretty bad, so I decided to leave for the time being. I’m monitoring the situation from elsewhere in Asia, waiting until it’s safe to return. Where I’m at I’ve been able to find surgical masks, disposable latex gloves, and goggles. Hand sanitizer seems to be totally unavailable. This stuff, especially masks, are in super short supply in China right now, so if anyone is returning to Chengdu, make sure you bring them with you.

[Merior]

Looking at a graph issued by the Chinese National Health Commission covering the past week there is a definate pattern improvement. The number of new infections has steadily reduced from 5,000 to 2,500 per day of which 2,000 of the 2,500 are in Hubei.

This is a link to the Chengdu and Sichun stats: https://chengdu-expat.com/coronavirus-chengdu-statistics-and-useful-information/

[Merior]

DHL have confirmed that they can provide door to door deliveries to Chengdu from the UK in about 8 days. So twice as long as normal. I am currently tracking a consignment and it is being held in Hong Kong. Since passenger planes are not flying between HK and the mainland I guess they have to wait until they have enough mail to fill a cargo plane. After that hurdle has been surmounted I guess there will be a backlog in Chengdu customs dept to contend with.

[Merior]

Air China has cancelled my direct flight from London to Chengdu at the end of March but have offered either a full refund or an alternative flight via Beijing.

 

[Charlie]

An Q&A has been published on life in Chengdu with coronavirus: link

[Merior]

I have managed to buy N99 military grade masks here in the UK.  Ironically they are made in China albeit a British product designed to UK gov. specs, However, my courier shipment to my wife in Chengdu containing the first mask has been sitting in Hong Kong for 3 days waiting for “the next scheduled movement” to Chengdu. However a friend of my wife in the US has managed to ship some lower spec masks that arrived today so some things are getting delivered. Hopefully they will deliver on Monday as promised. The N99 masks in question are being marked up by 100% or more in price on eBay and coming from India in 2 weeks but are currently taking 6 weeks if ordered direct from the Cambridge mask Company in the UK.

[Merior]

Just an update on mailing.  ‘international signed for’ packages are taking between 3 to 4 weeks to arrive. Regular air mails are unlikely to arrive if the address has not been supplied in Mandarin script. A DHL courier parcel took 8 days door to door from the UK via Hong Kong. There appears to be a bottle neck in Hong Kong as passenger flights are blocked so all mail has to come via cargo planes. Expect one mail drop per week.

While you can send masks and goggles OK, and hand sanitizers whether gel, liquid or cloths containing alchohol are unlikely to get through customs.

 

[Author]

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