Andy McNeil remembers exactly where he was when the word 'coronavirus' was first uttered in his direction.

The former Hibs, Livingston and Morton star was doing what he does every day - taking a training session in Guangzhou, China. Around 600 miles away, in Wuhan, COVID-19 had began to grip the city, and that's when people started to talk.

As the country geared up for Chinese New Year celebrations and the foot traffic and travel chaos that comes with it, things suddenly started to slow. The government issued severe lockdown protocols that McNeil had never witnessed before. All the while, natives were still unsure of exactly what sort of disease they were dealing with.

"It was the middle of January and we were doing a pre-season training camp in a city just outside Guangzhou," McNeil recalled. "That's when news started to come out that there was a problem in Wuhan and that's when people really started to talk about it. Nobody was really too sure what the situation was but that's how it all kicked off.

"The problem was, it was a new virus so people didn't know how to deal with it, how infectious it was or how it was passed from person to person. Even just what the symptoms were.

"In terms of geography I've been extremely fortunate in that we've been really quite far away from where the outbreak began. It's about a two hour flight so it's pretty far. It was coming up to Chinese New Year at that point and the local government in Wuhan, and the national government, reacted really quickly to shut down the city.

"Chinese New Year is the largest migration of people in the world, everyone leaves the city. That's hundreds of millions of people travelling all at the same time. By closing the city down the way they did and stopping people travelling a few weeks before Chinese New Year started, they did a great job of stopping the virus spreading. The district that I live in where there's more than 100 million people, there's been less than 2000 cases.

"That gives some perspective on how effective the lockdown here has been. We're not finished yet and this is going to go on for a while. But I would say the government were successful in what they've done for the country."

McNeil, 33, has done his best to maintain some level of consistency and structure in his daily life. Helpful, then, that restaurants and bars in the city of Hong Kong - where he currently resides - have remained open, if slightly downsized. Schools are also ready to reopen in the coming weeks.

Employed currently by R&F, McNeil was drafted in to help with their Super League outfit as they prepared for games midway through their season before the pandemic took hold. Circumstances which, according to the stopper, have kept him involved in his work. Albeit he'd rather be back at home in China than staying in a hotel in Hong Kong.

"I was in Guangzhou up until Chinese New Year, then I had a few days off," he said. "I came back and then because the league was cancelled indefinitely, they postponed pre-season for two weeks. [Guangzhou] has a team that plays in the Hong Kong Super League and because of the quarantine measures, they had a problem with their goalkeeping coach.

"We played a couple of games but they've just recently decided to shut everything down here, suspend the league until August when we'll play the second half of the season and the cup finals then. When all the colleges and universities around the world closed, all the students obviously came back, so there was a second wave of the virus. It also then meant then closing pitches.

"We still had half the season to play but we're running out of time. The Chinese border is currently closed to foreigners so I'm waiting on that opening, indefinitely, so I can go back to the team in Guangzhou."

Coronavirus has not stopped the world from spinning and McNeil and wife Katie, 35, have made sure to try and maintain a level of normality. McNeil's language skills have drastically improved since he made the move in 2017, as have his coaching methods.

Not that he is fully fluent quite yet. "My Chinese has improved quite a bit so in training I can communicate easily with the guys in terms of telling them what to do," McNeil said. "If something needs a bigger explanation, though, I'll still need a translator to help out. A lot more of the guys can speak English and as we're starting to get more and more younger players, it seems most of them speak some English. A lot have been abroad and speak it very well having spent time abroad at a youth team, perhaps in Portugal or Denmark.

"A lot of the staff speak English, particularly in Hong Kong where I've been, so that's been helpful."

From the outside looking in, McNeil is relieved he is not involved in the current chaotic climate the SPFL clubs find themselves in. Deciding to end the Premiership early or opting to find new dates for rescheduling fixtures is a difficult scenario. One that no doubt will anger several clubs, depending on which side the governing body in this country land on.

But the retired goalkeeper knows enough about the football climate in Scotland to insist that Neil Doncaster and the rest of the suits will do their damnedest to get the call right and do what is best for the game as a whole when all is said and done.

He added: "The problem in Scotland, which is different from here in Hong Kong, is that you can't really delay the season because the more you do, the more it cuts into next year.

"The way some clubs will sell it is that there's some sort of conspiracy, which is not the case. There's no way those at the SPFL will want to see clubs go out of business. They won't want a champion that people will say is illegitimate for whatever reason, either. That kind of narrative is not helpful. Of course, they should be criticised if they're not doing the best they can, but when it gets to it where people are simply saying things just to stir it up and help themselves, it's tricky.

"I'm glad I'm not in charge of making any decisions!"