Heena Sharma Blog

Normally bustling century-old Chinatowns from Melbourne to San Francisco have fallen quiet and businesses are struggling to survive as fears over the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak ripple around the world. "Scaremongering is rampant" complains Max Huang, owner of the Juicy Bao restaurant in Melbourne's historic Chinese district. "Customers won't come in if they can avoid it." Huang's eatery sits among dozens of restaurants making up Australia's oldest Chinatown enclave, dating back to the influx of fortune-seekers during an 1850s gold rush. Although the epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic is more than a ten-hour-flight way, and Australia has seen just a handful of cases, the stigma of a disease that has claimed more than 1,500 lives is pervasive. Streets are notably quieter, facemasks are a commonplace and even a Lunar New Year dragon dance failed to bring in the usual crowds. Read More

India batsman Rohit Sharma will miss the fourth Test against Australia in Sydney to be with his wife, who gave birth to a baby girl in Mumbai on Sunday. Rohit has flown back from Melbourne and will rejoin the squad on January 8 ahead of the three-match ODI series beginning January 12 in Sydney. "India batsman Rohit Sharma left for Mumbai on the 30th of December to attend to his wife who has delivered a baby girl. The BCCI congratulates Rohit on the beginning of a new chapter in his life," the BCCI said in a statement. The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), however, has not named any replacement for Rohit for the final Test beginning on January 3. India lead the four-match Test series 2-1 after winning the Melbourne Test by 137 runs. Read More Business Standard