Coronavirus: how Hong Kong parents are coping as outbreak keeps schools closed
- Some have left the city or sent their children abroad, while others are struggling to keep up with home-schooling
- Experts warn of an increase in withdrawals from schools after Easter
When Betty Lai Po-man heard about the rapid spread of the coronavirus in January, she decided to leave Hong Kong and take her two children to Britain, where her husband, Marco, is from.
After arriving in England in early February – by which time Hong Kong schools had been suspended – and quarantining herself with her children in an Airbnb, the 39-year-old managed to enrol her five-year-old daughter, Bea, and three-year-old son, Manu, in a Catholic school in Suffolk, where Marco’s hometown is.
“We came here without any plans, just for the well-being of the kids,” said the full-time mother. “Instead of them being locked in the house for months, we decided to go somewhere where they can be out and about and send them to school. We’re trying to live a normal life as much as possible.”
Among the hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong parents affected by school closures as the city battles the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, Lai is not the only one sending children overseas during the unexpected break.
By Saturday night, Hong Kong had confirmed 95 coronavirus cases, with two related deaths. In mainland China, more than 79,000 cases had been recorded, with more than 2,800 dead.
