Beijing resident: "Very quiet spring party"

On Saturday, January 25, the Chinese New Year occurred and around the holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, the cities usually hold major celebrations and events. But this year is not a normal year for the country.

- The Chinese New Year is the biggest weekend in China and all families usually gather, much like Christmas Eve in Sweden. But this year almost all activities are canceled. It is a very quiet spring party, says Fiona Feng, who lives in Beijing with her family.

The holiday is also a big travel weekend, but in an attempt to prevent the spread of the corona virus, several cities have restricted their traffic and in Beijing residents are invited to stay indoors.

- Me and my family try to stay home except when we need to go to the store and shop. We also follow the guidelines on wearing a mouthguard and washing our hands carefully, says Fiona and continues:

- Some complain, but in my opinion most support these measures.

One reason why so many provinces and cities have taken stringent measures so early in the outbreak is the country's experience of the SARS epidemic that plagued China in the early 2000s, Fiona says.

- It taught the authorities how to break the supply chain. And ordinary people, like me, still have in mind how terrible the situation was then. Sars were far more deadly than the corona virus seems to be, but we have learned that we still need to protect ourselves - for our own sake and for others.

As part of the line of preventive measures, Hong Kong has decided to keep its schools closed after the holidays and in Beijing it is uncertain when they will open.

- We were told that our son's school would open at least a day later, for the first day teachers must be trained in how to deal with the virus. We were also told that the schools want information from us, about the children traveling over the leave and if they have been to Hubei. The guidelines in such cases are to isolate themselves for 14 days when you get home.

It is not just within the next few days that several Chinese have had to plan their schedule after the virus, many major events in the future such as concerts, markets and the like have also been canceled.

"My husband had signed up for a marathon in March and he was told already that it had been canceled," says Fiona.