After a visit to Mainland China, Father Fernando Azpiroz, SJ has to spend two weeks in quarantine.

After visit to Mainland China, el director de Casa Ricci Social Service organizes aid measures to the specially affected provinces and expects support. 

Dear friends of Casa Ricci,

First of all, thank you for your prayers and concern.

On February 4th I returned from Hunan - the southern neighbour province of Hubei on the other side of the Yangtze River where I guided and 8-day workshop for 14 sisters and some HIV patients who are serving or have served persons living with HIV/AIDS. After returning to Macau, I underwent the 15 days self-quarantine (home based) asked by the Macau SAR government. During my time in Hunan, most of the time, all of us including the sisters (14), the patients (5), the children (3) and myself stayed at the Loving Care center in Hongjiang, without going to the town, which to my big surprise, had no corona virus cases, so turned our to be one of the safest places in China. It was for this reason that I could leave the town and come back to Macau. During those days, we could feel the strength and energy of your prayers and concern. 

I imagine you are aware of the general situation in Hubei and other provinces, specially in the big cities. It is quite amazing how just a virus could stop the country that just few weeks ago saw itself as the engine of the World. Many things to reflect about why and how this has happened. But regardless of this, I can see a lot of courage from the people and an enormous effort from the government to fight against the epidemic. 

Donation of 2000 protectives gloves, 5000 protective masks, desinfectant liquid and other equipment to the Hongjiang CDC

In Casa Ricci we have done the following things: 

1)- Give financial support to buy protective masks and materials to those hospitals or places that have asked us for help. So far we have given support to the Guan Ai infectious disease hospital in Kunming in Yunnan province (where we are also serving patients living with HIV/AIDS) and to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Hongjiang township, Hunan province.

2)- Continue all our service to persons affected by leprosy in all the eleven leprosy centres in China and to persons living with HIV AIDS at the Loving Care HIV center in Hongjiang, making sure that all the Sisters (around fifty Sisters) who are serving there are taking good care of themselves. As for our two children homes, the children went back home for the Chinese New Year break, so we are following up their situation. We have four children from Hubei, one of them is currently with us in Kunming. Please pray for him. Our service at the Kunming Guan Ai hospital has been temporarily interrupted, as the sisters who are serving there could not return to Kunming from their Chinese New Year break. Until now, transportation between cities and provinces is still quite restricted. 

3)- On February 18th, we restarted our work in our Macau and Kunming offices, but not yet in Zhaojue (Sichuan provinces). Until then, we are working at home, following government regulations to control the corona virus epidemic. God willing, we will return to our offices starting from next Monday.

Please, remember to pray for us and for China during these difficult moments. We need it.

In Christ,

Fr. Fernando

18 February 2020

Macau SAR,