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JINZHOU, China -- While the coronavirus has spread to countries around the world, a Vienna native living in China said Thursday that "everything here (in Jinzhou) is starting to get back to normal."
Matt Freed, a 1999 graduate of Parkersburg High School, moved to China about 10 years ago. He has been teaching English at Jinzhou Medical University since 2012.
Jinzhou is a city of 3 million people in northeast China. It is about 977 miles from Wuhan, China, the center of the coronavirus' original outbreak.
Freed emailed the following statement to the News and Sentinel Thursday night after being contacted by the newspaper.
"We still must check in everyday with our university and they have yet to tell us when classes will resume. Jinzhou students have restarted their studies with online courses but still no face-to-face classes.
"Things are still pretty bad down in Wuhan and the hospitals are still sending doctors down to assist in any way they can. Our city seems to have everything well contained. People can now go to the park and get around like normal but are still advised to only go out when necessary and to not assemble in groups.
"Of course, the mask rule is still in effect," Freed said Thursday, as he was preparing to go to the grocery store.
A story on Freed's experiences in Jinzhou appeared in the News and Sentinel on Feb. 16.
Freed said previously that he and his girlfriend Mari Ong "stockpiled" masks, surgical gloves and rubbing alcohol before the virus outbreak escalated.
Freed, 39, said he reached out to the News and Sentinel earlier this month to tell his story because people have contacted him about his situation regarding the coronavirus.