A second Irishman caught up in the coronavirus outbreak in China has told how he was given a mask and told to avoid public places.
Paul Cassidy, from Blackrock, Co Louth, is currently in Wuxi City, two hours west of Shanghai, for work and was due to return home to Ireland next week.
Mr Cassidy, who was also caught up in the SARS outbreak in Vietnam in 2003, revealed he has been advised to all but stay indoors.
He said: “They advised me not to go to public places and also since Wednesday the hotel I am staying at have got floor managers at the (entrance) doors.
"They are taking temperatures so anybody who comes into the hotel has to get their temperature taken.
“All of the hotel staff are wearing masks as well.”
He said that when he has gone out to some public areas, fifty percent of people were wearing masks.
“This only started happening here in the last couple of days because there was a confirmed case within the province we are in.”
He also told how he was back-packing in Vietnam in 2003 when SARS broke out.
Mr Cassidy added: “So I have seen this before. Then we wearing masks going to train stations and we got a flight out of Singapore.
"I remember going through the airport and people had masks on and some people were very nervous at the time and other people were a little bit more relaxed about it.
“I feel I kind of have a bit of experience around this, that is partly why I am not as concerned as maybe some other people might be. A a lot of stuff they are doing is precautionary.”
