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In light of the present threat of a possible pandemic, which has a fairly low mortality rate, compared to the common flu, I would recommend reading "La Peste" by Albert Camus (English Translation is The Plague) This book is a classic in itself, with far deeper meaning and symbolism than the simplicity of the narrative appears to be.

The other book which I always recommend to my students, is "Journal of the Plague Year" by Daniel Defoe. This relates to the bubonic plague in London in the 1700's and is much darker and deadlier than Camus's book. But for those new to English language, it is not a difficult read.

Withond wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2020 2:39 pm In light of the present threat of a possible pandemic, which has a fairly low mortality rate, compared to the common flu, I would recommend reading "La Peste" by Albert Camus (English Translation is The Plague) This book is a classic in itself, with far deeper meaning and symbolism than the simplicity of the narrative appears to be.

The other book which I always recommend to my students, is "Journal of the Plague Year" by Daniel Defoe. This relates to the bubonic plague in London in the 1700's and is much darker and deadlier than Camus's book. But for those new to English language, it is not a difficult read.

Thank you for the suggestions, Withond.

As a person who has gone through the worst part of the virus spreading in China, I kindly advise all of you that you wear mask when going out as much as possible and avoid staying with a crowd. It is better to keep a distance of at least 1 meter between other people. When possible, do exercices or workout to improve your physical fitness and the immune capability to get yourself quickly recovering from the illness if you are so unlucky to get it.

Mr. Joe needs to take extra care when living in the UK, because many British people look like they do not care about the epidemic, that is very dangerous thinking and behavior, which might bring big trouble.

SitangCampus wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:01 pm As a person who has gone through the worst part of the virus spreading in China, I kindly advise all of you that you wear mask when going out as much as possible and avoid staying with a crowd. It is better to keep a distance of at least 1 meter between other people. When possible, do exercises or workout to improve your physical fitness and the immune capability to get yourself quickly recovering from the illness if you are so unlucky to get it.

Mr. Joe needs to take extra care when living in the UK, because many British people look like they do not care about the epidemic, that is very dangerous thinking and behavior, which might bring big trouble.

Thank you for the news from China. It is interesting to hear. Please post more about your experiences coping with self-isolation.

I believe most British people certainly care about COVID-19 but they don't wear masks because they follow the advice of the World Health Organization, which basically recommends that healthy people should not wear a mask:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease ... -use-masks

I personally will not wear a mask unless WHO changes its advice. I also do not visit live animal markets.

Regarding to the reason of the virus, there are many unconfirmed news. One is about the seafood market in Wuhan where the virus started, but a most recent report said that a family of four people forced to stay there since the lockdown of the city left the market safe and sound. That is very hard to understand to many people, haha.Does it mean the safest place is the most dangerous one?
The epidemic could have been avoided if there had been corrupt officials in the local government, that is for sure. But due to the political system of the country, sometimes the top leaders had to tolerate some absurd behavior because it might lead to the dark side of them if not well handled, or as the Chinese idiom says, one has to mind the kitchenware when he tries to hit a mouse running here and there.
About WHO, the chief is a black guy, well, it is not that we have any prejudice against colored people, it is his name in Chinese sounding like a real Chinese, so perhaps he got his degree education in China and his English accent is not either British or American, which may imply that his background is a little weak. I can't see what his strength is in leading such a world body.

Now people are more panicked than there is a real threat. Everything is bought in stores ... But in 1918 there were worse and more deaths from the Spanish flu. I advise you to read about this terrible times Pandemic 1918 by Catharine Arnold