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Lifelong Muskoka resident teaching in China caught in quarantine

MUSKOKA, ON-  A Muskoka resident is caught in the middle of the Novel Coronavirus quarantine in China.

Dan Kretschmar of Severn Bridge has been in China for three years teaching Kindergarten English.

He is living in a city one hour west of Shanghai and describes the experience as unprecedented.

The government has shut down the highways and subways into Shanghai. Movie theatres, cultural centres, and other public gathering places are also closed.   

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In order to stay safe, Kretschmar is limiting his contact with others as he ventures out of his apartment wearing gloves and a mask. 

When he returns, he leaves his gloves and shoes outside his home to reduce the threat of contracting the virus and he washes his hands and face thoroughly. 

Kretschmar has been documenting his time in China during the Coronavirus outbreak with his YouTube channel. In one of his videos, he shows his walk to the grocery store during the quarantine. 

In the video, he mentions how the city has a population of one million but notes how quiet the streets are even though it is Chinese New Year.  He says the city is relatively new and that a lot of its residents are not from there and have travelled to their home provinces for the holiday.  Kretschmar pointed out that even with the holiday the empty streets and stores are very different with the outbreak and described the city as being a “ghost town.”    

On Tuesday Kretschmar told the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom he is currently not overly concerned about his health but if the situation worsens, he would be ready to get on a plane and head somewhere. He said that he doesn’t want to leave because if he is infected, he does not want to spread the disease, because it can take up to 14 days to show symptoms. 

In a follow-up Facebook message on Wednesday when asked if the Canadian government were to evacuate Canadian citizens he said he is monitoring the situation closely, “If they are going to evacuate citizens from all of China I would certainly register. As of now, countries are only evacuating citizens from Hubei province and Wuhan.” Kretschmar continued on to say, “I will decide if I am going to buy a ticket back on my own in the next few days.”

He notes the quarantine has affected his work life as well. Usually, he would return to work at the school after Chinese New Year on February 3rd. The government has, as a precaution, ordered schools to remain closed for another two weeks.  

Kretschmar says he is healthy and will continue to record his experience in China during the Coronavirus outbreak. 

If you are interested in following Dan check out his YouTube channel here

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