How Did We Get Here? Ep.1

We first moved to Asia 10 years ago after a stint in the Virgin Islands. After 4 years in South Korea we made the jump to Shanghai and have been here going on 6 years. My husband is a history teach and I'm a pharmacist by trade, but due to Chinese law I'm unable to practice so I work at a local dental clinic. When I first got wind of the virus it was the middle of January. I didn't think much of it- until they sealed off Hubei province. Initially, the local Chinese were much more freaked out about it than the foreigners. There is still a sense of separation and foreigners can often have an air of untouchability. The escalation that followed was truly within a day.

As soon as we touched down in Laos for our holiday I called my friends in Spain. One of my friends works in construction and I asked him to order me as many masks as he could get his hands on so I could distribute them to my loved ones. I told him to order extra for his family but he blew me off and told me I was overreacting. How I wish I had been more stern, I wish I had been more insistent. The Spanish media was playing it down , I wish I had warned them more, I knew the government wasn't going to do it.

As soon as we got to Spain, however, things started to get better in Shanghai while rapidly deteriorating in the West. While I was there I helped my mother prepare. She lives alone and I wanted to make sure she had enough food and medicine for two months. Those who actually listened were okay, but by the time the virus hit Spain everything was gone. My friends in the frontlines have nothing. In Madrid they just converted an ice rink into a makeshift morgue. The crematoriums are overwhelmed. The most frustrating part of all of this is the West had almost two months to prepare, but at both a government and individual level they have dropped the ball. I checked in with my pharmacy friends in the US, some have lost their jobs for refusing to NOT wear a mask. The pharmacies are worried they will scare their customers. I recently wrote to the South Carolina board of pharmacy pleading with them to make masks mandatory but I doubt much will come of it.

Upon exiting the plane we were sorted in to 3 categories: green (low risk), yellow (moderate risk), or red (high risk). We received yellow stickers on our passports not because Spain was considered to be risky at the time but because we had over 50 passengers from Italy on our flight. From over the loud speaker everyone coming from Italy was asked to disembark the plane first so they could isolate them. During my two weeks of strict in home quarantine I spent a lot of time reaching out to people who live in hot spots, checking in on their physical and mental health. I'm kind of introverted and used to working from home but I made a conscious effort to reach out. My friends and I had home organizing competitions, daily weigh in competitions to see who was putting on the most quarantine weight, we tried to keep it lighthearted.

30-40% of business have reopened, but with very strict controls. You cannot enter any building without wearing a mask and every business that is open has a supply of hand sanitizer you must use before entering. Every single place you go has infrared thermometers that scan you and make sure you are not running a fever. You are still pretty much uniformly not allowed to go into others' homes and in most cases you have to show proof you live in a building before entering. If you are going to any health related appointment be sure to bring your quarantine release papers.

30% of gyms are back open but the number of people who can enter is severely limited and masks MUST be worn. No outside clothes or shoes can be worn in the gyms and you must record your name and temperature before entering. Movie theaters, karaoke bars, etc remain shut. Restaurants have reduced the number of tables and increased the distance between them to keep patrons safe.

The only new virus reports have been from passengers coming back from abroad. I've noticed now in my first three days out of quarantine that the Chinese people are terrified of the foreigners. I've been turned away from restaurants and stores. The other night my husband and I went out to dinner with another couple and were seated at a table of four in the middle of the restaurant. Within 2 minutes the locals at our neighboring table complained and we were moved to a table for 10 in the back of the restaurant. The following night we went out for drinks and as soon as we sat down every table surrounding us got up and left. My favorite spa announced Thursday that no "laowai" (foreigners) are allowed to enter the building at the demand of the landlord. I know the owner, she is trying to find a new location to rent as most of her clients are foreigners and now she has hardly any income coming in.

Before I would gladly share a hotpot with friends and not think twice, now I find myself pausing before each meal. I did not hug and kiss my friends after getting out of quarantine, especially when in the presence of Chinese. In Laos when the international community was just beginning to report on the virus my husband and I were in a van crammed with 15-20 people. I had packed masks but they were in my backpack strapped to the roof of the van so I did not have access to them. We were sitting all the way in the back next to two Chinese girls when an Australian man in front of us started coughing. I realized then I couldn't access my backpack and panic spread across my face. The two Chinese girls next to us, who were already wearing masks, saw my eyes grow large with fear. One of them pulled out two brand new masks from her purse and handed them to me. Even though we couldn't speak the same language they understood in me the same human emotion that was in them.

The US is by far the worst off, I'm really worried about that. I have a lot of family and friends that are front liners and it's looking really grim; things are only going to escalate. I think this virus will bring to light what a shit show our healthcare system is in the West and I hope it stimulates some positive change and improvements in our system. I'm optimistic it's going to happen, maybe not in the US because the politics are so screwed up but it will change the way we treat and approach healthcare in many countries. Definitely in Italy and Spain.

What happens in one small part of the globe affects all of us in ways we were never even conscious of. Most people have been living in their own bubble oblivious to the world outside of their immediate one. This has proven we are all one and we must remain one. We have to strive for a better common humanity, one family, one house. We must listen to each other, that is how we will make it through.

*Names have been withheld out of respect for privacy. Moderate edits made for tone.