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| Lights which form a giant "I love SH" logo on the side of a building in Shanghai. Image source. |
On January 24, it was announced that several big tourist sites in Shanghai (including Disneyland and the Oriental Pearl Tower) would be closed. Please note that this is a huge big deal- the Chinese New Year holiday is supposed to be one of the busiest times of the year for touristy places like that.
Yesterday (January 27), the Chinese government announced that the holiday week is being extended. We were originally supposed to go back to work on January 30, but they changed it to February 3. Later that same day, Shanghai announced that we will not be going back to work until after February 9, and schools will not start until February 17. There are exceptions to this- companies that make medical supplies, food delivery, etc will still be working.
It's mind-boggling to think how bad this is all going to be for China's economy. During the biggest holiday of the year, China is asking 1 billion people to cancel their plans and stay at home. Travel in and out of Wuhan and surrounding areas is restricted, and people are getting refunds for their tickets. And we're all not going back to work, but I'm pretty sure companies are legally required to keep paying everyone their full salary anyway.
But in my opinion, it's the right thing to do, and it's reassuring to see the government taking this disease seriously and taking such drastic steps to stop the spread. I've heard people comparing it to the 2003 SARS outbreak in China- did China learn lessons from that, and is going to handle this crisis better?
On the other hand, with all the closings and travel restrictions, will society still be able to function well enough, or will there be shortages of food and medicine? I can't speak for other places in China, but Shanghai is doing fine. Over the past few days I've been to several grocery stores, and they're open and well-stocked. So that's good.
Also I was on the subway in Shanghai yesterday, and it was weird how empty it was. Huge swaths of empty seats everywhere. I've never seen that, on the Shanghai subway.
And basically everyone is wearing masks to cover their nose and mouth when they go out. (Though I have seen the occasional person out in public not wearing a mask.)
Some people are panicking. They have nothing to do but sit at home, read social media, and panic. There is a lot of misinformation going around on social media (specifically, in China we use the app WeChat). Let's not panic, everybody. Just do what you can to protect yourself- wash your hands, wear a mask, don't go out in public much.
Personally, I consider myself lucky because I didn't travel for the new year holiday, and I didn't really have any plans for the foreseeable future anyway. It's no problem for me to just stay home. But I know there are a lot of people who traveled for the holiday and are now making difficult decisions about when and how to get back home. I've even heard from immigrants who traveled to their home country and are now not even sure if they should come back to China. Yeah, if you're not in China right now, don't come back just yet. But as for me, since I'm already here, the safest option is just staying at home and occasionally going out to the grocery store.
So. That's the situation right now. There is still so much that's unknown about the virus and what's going to happen. I'm nervous but for now we're okay.
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Also: The US CDC has issued an advisory to "avoid all nonessential travel to China."
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All my posts about COVID-19:
I'm in Shanghai, and I'm concerned about the coronavirus (January 23)
An update on the situation in Shanghai (January 28)
About Compassion and Reading the News (January 29)
Welcome Baby Square Root! (February 3)
Remember the old days when we used to go outside? (February 4)
So we're (sort of) back to work here in Shanghai (February 12)
Blogaround (February 13)
Blogaround (February 20)
Shanghai is a good place for immigrants. (And I have feelings about it.) (February 24)
Blogaround (February 27)
Well *now* I'm glad I stayed in China (March 8)
The Weirdest Deja Vu (March 15)
Blogaround (March 19)
I'm an American in China. I CANNOT BELIEVE Some of You Are Still Going Out. (March 22)
Blogaround (March 25)
China Bans Foreigners (Like Me) From Entering the Country (March 29)
List of People Who Are Not Allowed to Call Themselves "Pro-Life" (April 2)
Blogaround (April 3)
... all right now I have way too many posts to keep updating this list. You can find them all on the COVID-19 tag.
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