For years, Oscar Margain had a presence in South Texas reporting on some of the biggest national and international stories. But after all that experience and exposure, he still wasn't ready for this.
"I don't think anything prepares you for something like this," Margain, a former KENS 5 reporter, said via Skype on Tuesday night.
Margain moved to Beijing, China seven months ago and has since seen a once-bustling capital city empty out.
"Just looking like we were in a post-zombie apocalypse," Margain said about the landscape of the city. "It gave me the chills, it was really creepy and weird to see the streets that way."
Overnight, CBS reported on Beijing's first coronavirus-related death, bringing the death toll to 106 and leaving millions of people left to take every precaution they can.
"I have masks right here, actually," Margain said as he lifted two different face masks up. "This is normal now. Everyone is taking all these precautions; people are worried and talking about it and it's like this invisible threat and it's really hard to kind of deal with that."
Many cities in China have locked down completely while others have implemented restrictions.
In Beijing, the inter-province shuttles closed until further notice to try and prevent the spread of the virus.
"Everybody has to be on alert. Everybody has to be on (the) defensive," Margain said.
But the journalist says the biggest challenge is getting official information in a city where you don't speak the language.
All they can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.