'It's been a lot of fear': North Bay man feeling isolated, shunned since returning home from China

ByCornell W. Barnard KGO logo
Thursday, February 6, 2020
North Bay man shunned since returning home from China
A North Bay man says after his recent trip to China he's been disinvited from parties and told to work from home as a precaution.

COTATI, Calif. (KGO) -- Fears over the Coronavirus have left some travelers to China, feeling a bit shunned upon their return to the Bay Area.

"I'm feeling fine, no symptoms whatsoever," said Marc Herman.

Marc Herman and his Fiancé from Cotati just returned home last week from a trip to China. They weren't required to undergo any special health screening at SFO.

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They visited Nanjing, where streets, airports, and train stations were pretty much deserted.

Although Nanjing is more than 300 miles from Wuhan, where cases of the CoronaVirus are concentrated. Authorities were taking precautions.

"You would actually get yelled at if you weren't wearing a mask," Herman added.

But ever since the couple returned home, they've been met with one reaction.

"It's been a lot of fear," said Herman.

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Herman and his employer agreed he'd work from home for two weeks to protect co-workers, just in case. His contractor wouldn't finish a repair job unless Marc went to a hotel and as for a friend's super bowl party.

"I said, we're back from China, is the party still going on? Yeah, it might be best if you don't come," Herman said.

Marc Herman says he gets the reaction.

"I get the idea of infectious disease that we don't clearly understand and risk behind it, but I don't think it's as bad as it's coming out to be," Herman added.

Meantime, for the sake of others, Herman says he's laying low at home.

See more stories related to coronavirus here.