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| The US has issued a travel advisory for China: "Level 4, Do Not Travel." Image source. |
Well, nothing that interesting has happened. As I said in last week's post, Shanghai announced that our Spring Festival holiday will be extended until February 9 (originally it was January 24-30). So, here we all sit, at home. A whole nother week of this. Can't believe I'm saying it, but I just want to go back to work.
We only go out for things that are essential, like groceries. I assume most businesses are closed, but lol I don't know because I haven't left the apartment much. No issues with the grocery stores though. There is enough food. We also order things online; those companies are mostly still running. They're delivering a bit slower than usual though, because they have such a huge volume of orders. And when the delivery comes, the delivery person just leaves it at your door instead of actually waiting for you to open the door and handing it to you. No contact. Oh but then today this has changed; today they are leaving all packages and food deliveries at the main gate of the apartment complex. I guess the delivery people aren't allowed to come in any more.
And apparently our apartment complex has locked all the gates except one, and when you go through that one, they check your temperature.
A lot of restaurants have made social media posts about "We care so much about your health! Look, here is how we disinfect the tables! Here is a photo of all our employees wearing masks! We check the employees' temperature every few hours!" So uh, I guess that means they're open and they're trying to reassure customers it's safe to go there.
All sorts of people are checking in on everybody. HR from work said that anybody who traveled to Hubei province, had contact with someone who traveled to Hubei province, or has a fever needs to let them know. Somebody in charge of our apartment complex called to ask if we've traveled or have a fever. Our apartment rental agency also called to ask.
We took the baby to the hospital for a vaccine a few days ago, and before they let us in the front door, they took our temperature and had us fill out a form about whether or not we've traveled to Hubei. The hospital was extremely empty. Actually, in Shanghai there are a few specific hospitals that are allowed to treat the virus, and the international hospital that we go to is not one of them.
I'm concerned it's getting kind of ... witch-hunt-y. I've heard anecdotal reports about people from Hubei being discriminated against, hotels refusing to take them, a big sign put on their apartment door to say they are being quarantined and aren't allowed to leave the apartment... And on an international level, I've heard people in other countries are being really racist about this. So. That sucks.
Airlines are cancelling all their flights to and from China. The US has issued a level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory for China. As a little thought experiment, I just checked expedia to see if I could find a flight from Shanghai to the US this week, and there is NOTHING. That's a weird feeling. I'm stuck here. Which is okay because I wasn't planning on leaving anyway, but... I don't like the feeling of being stuck here.
I do know some international people who have left China because of this (some temporarily, some permanently). I don't think it's that bad, though, at least for me here in Shanghai.
There are all sorts of news/opinion articles which say all sorts of things. Some say this virus is basically just as bad as the flu, so we shouldn't be closing off cities or doing any of this. Some say this is totally about to become a pandemic. I think a lot of it is just written to get clicks, rather than to give people useful and helpful information. Blah.
So... where do we go from here? We're supposed to go back to work on February 10- is the situation actually going to be different by then? Like, I don't think the virus is going to be *gone* in the next week. So was it helpful to extend the holiday and have us all shut up in our homes like this? How is this going to play out, long-term? Are we going to be "back to normal"?
I'm not concerned about catching the virus. I'm concerned about all the rest of this. The travel restrictions, the economic effects on companies (which will be passed along to their employees), the fear and misinformation.
Hope things get better soon. Hope the health organizations are able to get a better idea of how to fight the virus, sick people get better, and people stop panicking.
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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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