Hawke's Bay man trapped in China during coronavirus outbreak

In his Flaxmere flat Peter Morgan holds a coronavirus official form stating he is free of the disease. Photo / Warren Buckland

What was meant to be a visit to catch up with old friends turned into a "jail sentence" for one Hawke's Bay man in China.

Peter Morgan spent five weeks in isolation in a Chinese factory after being caught up in the country's lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"It felt like a prison sentence being stuck in that massive warehouse for such a long time."

Morgan was visiting Xuyi County in the Jiangsu Provence. He's been visiting for many years after teaching at local schools and working at a tannery. This visit he returned to the town and tannery for a bit of nostalgia, only to find the region going into lockdown just two days before he was due to return to New Zealand.

Back at home in his Flaxmere flat Peter Morgan holds a disembarkation form for entry to Japan to transfer to a flight to NZ. Photo / Warren Buckland

"The entire town was completely empty and everything just shut down.

"It was scary because anyone sick was told to go to the hospital as pharmacies were closed.

"I wasn't going to go near that at all because I knew that if I went to the hospital for any reason I would struggle to get out and get home."

A look at where he spent his five weeks in the factory. Photo / Peter Morgan

Unable to get out of the region Morgan was put under isolation in the tannery for 14 days. But it lasted five weeks.

He had a room set up for him in the tannery and apart from the odd police or government official and the odd visit from the factory manager he was completely alone.

"They came and gave me a small pile of food every couple of days but in the end I fed myself," he said.

Peter Morgan during his isolation in the factory in China. Photo / Peter Morgan

"Some of the factory workers had made a bit of a garden in the courtyard of the factory so they can take it home fresh when they left but instead of leaving them untouched for weeks I ransacked it a little to make some nice meals."

He didn't understand the many strict restrictions for the area because nobody had contracted the virus. He had a small cold after going from a hot Hawke's Bay summer to a cold Chinese winter.

But Morgan had been working hard to get back home and Air New Zealand managed to help him out.

It was the middle of winter during his isolation in the factory. Photo / Peter Morgan

"They were really good in sorting my ticket and helping get back home."

Eventually he managed to get a flight to Shanghai and from there flew to Osaka, Japan and then on to Auckland.

He said he was tested multiple times along the way, allowing him to make the next stage of his journey.

"I've done the trip to and from China many times but this was definitely the strangest one yet.

A look inside the tannery before it was temporarily closed down. Photo / Peter Morgan

"The flight from Shanghai to Japan was weird because we flew in a big international plane and including me there was two pilots, four crew and eight passengers on this big massive plane."

But for him there was nothing better than seeing New Zealand and being able to get on home soil.

"I was extremely happy to be home, even though it was Auckland.

"When I got off the plane I kissed the tarmac, I was just happy to be home."

Morgan was given the all clear after final tests in Auckland. Despite that he said some people were still wary.