Chinese New Year haunted by coronavirus

Celebrations of the Chinese new year Friday night and Saturday may be squelched by fears of the coronavirus. “What if someone just got here from China and is contagious?” as an acquaintance said to me yesterday, when I asked how he was planning to celebrate. He went on to say he was avoiding Chinese restaurants and grocery stores at the moment, so his new year wasn’t going to be anything special.

In 2003 our Chinatown had signs out reminding people we hadn’t seen any cases of SARS in Montreal so it was safe to shop and eat there. We may see something similar again soon.

恭喜發財 !