Update on the current situation

As you probably already know, the current situation in China is very chaotic. At the moment, none of the students who have left the dormitory are allowed to return. We do not know exactly when it will be possible again. The number of infected people is increasing by more than 3000 per day. Although most of them are in the Hubei province, the security measures are quite high. You can find the latest numbers, among other things, here. We have registered on the emergency list of the Foreign Office and receive updates from time to time. Otherwise, all kinds of safety and behavior instructions are distributed through numerous social media channels.

So we can't say exactly what's happening in China/Shanghai. We also only hear most of it from the news and our WeChat group:
People are supposed to stay at home and the streets and public transport are empty. The population is asked to only go shopping every 2 days and the supply of masks and disinfectants is scarce. Even here in Hsinchu, you can see queues in front of some stores selling masks. There are lists of places in China where these things are distributed and the quantity is limited. Hotels are being closed and the residents are being redistributed to the remaining ones. Company employees are supposed to work from home and it is unclear when operations will return to normal. In Shanghai, body temperature tests and masks are now mandatory if you want to use public places such as supermarkets, the metro, or other public transport. Officially, the holidays in China are still until 09.02. and then everything should continue as normal, as far as possible.
Everyone has been advised to stay outside the country for as long as possible. At the airport in Cambodia, many Chinese people were seen with large boxes filled with masks.
So currently, the majority of our fellow students are on their way or back in Germany. There is now also consideration of financially supporting the students. In addition, we have been given the opportunity to do our internship and the bachelor's degree outside of China and still receive the degree, if we start in the summer semester. We only have to come back to Shanghai for the defense.

Thomas and I are now in Taiwan and will stay here for the time being. It's quite relaxed here and we will use the time to see the country.

I will personally fly back to Germany as soon as possible and look for an internship there. I will finally be back home, because I miss my girlfriend, family, and friends in Jena a lot. It's a shame because my internship at VW would have been very interesting, but I'm very happy with this solution. I just have to figure out how to get my personal belongings from Shanghai beforehand.

Sophie has no real idea yet how things will continue. Currently, she is still planning to do her internship at Trumpf as planned, but there is still no start date and she has no precise information. She may now follow other students to the Philippines at short notice.

We are very curious to see how all of this will develop further.

written by: Friedemann