I'm an American in China. I CANNOT BELIEVE Some of You Are Still Going Out.

A sign that says "Shelter in Place". Image source.

Oh my god. It has come to my attention that people in the United States are still going out for non-essential reasons. Some people are still going to restaurants, bars, and malls, still taking trips to other cities. Oh my god.

We are in a war against the COVID-19 pandemic and we need everyone's help. For most people, that means STAY HOME. DO NOT go out. DO NOT go visit your friends. Some people are like "well let's still meet for church but in smaller groups" and "we'll just be really careful about washing our hands"- NO. NO. NOT OKAY. Not good enough. DO NOT have any contact with people unless it's essential- like buying groceries or getting health care.

I read through the news and I see headlines about "this event was cancelled" and I'm like WHY WAS IT NOT CANCELLED ALREADY??? Headlines about "the governor ordered everyone to stay home" and I'm like THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN STAYING HOME ALREADY.

I live in Shanghai, China. At the end of January, we all drastically changed our lifestyles because of COVID-19. (For details, read through my blog posts from the past 2 months.) The Chinese government extended the Chinese New Year holiday so people would STAY HOME. When people started going back to work, the majority worked from home for 2 weeks. Anyone who had traveled during the Chinese New Year holiday had to work from home for 2 weeks, and had to communicate with HR every day about if they had any symptoms.

China has this under control now, but we know it's not over. We are not letting our guard down. We all wear masks in public and at work. Security guards check everyone's temperature at the entrance to subway stations, office buildings, etc. Food deliveries get dropped off at a specified location (like the gate of your apartment complex) so you don't have any face-to-face interaction with the delivery person.

China is taking this very very seriously. Maybe because China remembers the 2003 SARS outbreak.

And I look at what the United States is doing... maybe I'm not getting an accurate picture because I'm not actually there? But it looks like the US isn't doing anywhere near as much as what China's doing. The US is not doing enough. And I understand that the government and the infrastructure are different, so it's not possible for the US to do the exact same things... BUT I SEE PEOPLE STILL GOING OUT. What are you doing. STOP. STOP INFECTING EACH OTHER. STAY HOME.

What if one of you infects my grandma?

But you say "well I am not sick. I have no symptoms. I am not infecting people." You don't know that. Some people don't show any symptoms until they've already been infected for 14 days- AND SPREADING IT AROUND TO OTHER PEOPLE. COVID-19 has been detected in all 50 states in the US. It is everywhere, and the US has not done anywhere near enough testing. You don't know who has it and who doesn't.

But you say "this isn't a big deal, it's basically the same as the flu." What. NO. Back at the end of January, when all of us in China first heard about this, and we panicked and stayed in our homes, we really honestly did not know whether it was "the same as the flu." Back then, I wondered if the Chinese government had overreacted. Back then, we really didn't have enough information.

But now there is NO EXCUSE. Now we have 2 months' worth of data on this. There is NO EXCUSE for talk of "this is just the same as the flu." It's NOT. Look what happened in Wuhan. Look what happened in Italy. THIS IS NOT THE FLU. The health care system cannot handle the number of sick people, and patients are dying because there simply are not enough doctors and resources to give everyone the care they need. The math tells us that the US is heading towards that same result. There are people who are infected right now and don't know it, and when they start showing symptoms, will our health care system be able to help them all? Our hardworking doctors and nurses need all the help they can get, and that means YOU need to do your part to not spread the disease.

STOP going out. STOP seeing your friends. STOP seeing your relatives. DO NOT TRAVEL. STOP infecting each other.

This is a war. Be safe, everyone. Limit contact with people as much as possible. Look out for each other. Bring groceries to your elderly neighbors. If you hear about your friends leaving their homes for non-essential reasons, tell them to STOP. We all need to take this seriously so we can defeat it.

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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.