DEMO OF PAGE BUILDER

This beautiful disaster is shot from Victoria, Oriental Mindoro, it is another island about 180km (60 miles) away from the Taal Volcano and 225km (135mi) from Manila, Philippines. Despite of the distance you can still clearly see the volcanic lightning that goes with the thick and dark mixture of ash and steam.

The WHO will meet on Thursday to discuss whether the virus constitutes a global health emergency. The Chinese city of Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak.

But the virus has spread across China and to at least 16 countries globally, including Thailand, France, the US and Australia.

More than 130 people have died in China and close to 6,000 have been infected. I wore it in the markets where wild animals that were the suspected source of the outbreak were being butchered, blood droplets flying. I wore it in crowded enclosed spaces that I couldn’t avoid, like airplanes and trains, as I traveled to cities involved in the outbreak, like Guangzhou and Hong Kong. You never know if the guy coughing and sneezing two rows ahead of you is ill or just has an allergy. Having a mask with you as a precaution makes sense if you are in the midst of an outbreak, as I was when out reporting in the field during those months.

Here are my main takeaways from that experience for ordinary people on the ground:

1. Wash your hands frequently.

2. Don’t go to the office when you are sick. Don’t send your kids to school or day care when they are ill, either.

Notice I didn’t say anything about masks. Having a mask with you as a precaution makes sense if you are in the midst of an outbreak, as I was when out reporting in the field during those months. But wearing it constantly is another matter. I donned a mask when visiting hospitals where SARS patients had been housed.