Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
I was going to wait until the dust settles and our “quarantine” ends, but it looks like it will continue into April, if not longer. Everything is tentative.
We were in the States for our Lunar New Year holiday in late January. I wore a mask at the airport and for most of the flight. [N95 masks are not comfortable for 16+ hours.] Unfortunately, I had a form of flu at Christmas time and have had a lingering cough. I took various cough medicines and a constant supply of cough drops, but not much has helped. It just has to run its course. However, going around coughing in the current epidemic situation can be concerning.
Actually, my cough did not seem to be a problem until I was in the States. Complete strangers would hear me cough (with my mask on or tissue covering my mouth) and their heads would snap around to see who was coughing. It is very interesting that in a country where there were few, if any cases, at that time, the anxiety was so high. Even after returning to China, I have not seen that kind of reaction. The Chinese are just going about their lives as best they can. Wearing masks when outside their homes. Submitting to having their temperature taken.
While we were in the States, news came that the school where I work would be closed due to the virus concerns, but that teaching and learning would continue online. This announcement also stated that we were required to return to Shanghai by February 2nd. This did not make sense to teachers who were in other countries. Countries with no occurrence of the disease. Why would they and their children return to a place where there might be a chance of infection. The expectation softened over time and it was agreed that some might want to stay out of the country for safety sake.
Also, one airline after another began to cancel flights to China. We weren’t certain if we would be stranded. We were returning on different dates and we both had to reschedule our flights and change planes twice in order to get home. We might have stayed in the States if it weren’t for our cats. We have a good cat sitting company who cares for them when we are gone and they agreed they could continue, if needed. We both chose to return. I am a homebody. I was traveling all over the place – Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Oregon. I have not counted up the miles. I don’t want to know. I needed to get back to my home, my hubby, my cats, and my own bed.
Health inspectors came onto our plane after landing at Shanghai.
So, what is it like living in Shanghai during COVID-95? We stay home, for the most part. Ventures outside are to go for groceries or supplies. Normally, we have our groceries delivered to the door. Early on, we got a message from our grocery delivery company indicating that deliveries would be left outside our door. We would receive a message that the delivery had been made and the delivery person would leave. We could then retrieve the items without interaction, thereby reducing chance of disease transmission. Good, logical plan. Until … apartment management companies became responsible for health concerns. This meant that entrance into the apartment complexes became limited. Deliveries had to be left at the gate and we have to go out to the gate to retrieve them.
A fair amount of interaction happening at the gate.
When we do venture out of the apartment complex for more than just a delivery, we are asked why we are leaving. We say “food.” That works. When we return our temperature is taken to see if we have a fever. At first they were using our foreheads, but now they use the wrist area.
There was a news announcement of a confirmed case in our neighborhood indicating involvement of a grocery store DaddyBird had been to multiple times. Luckily, the person had only visited the store as a customer, not a member of the staff.
Word is that the store was closed briefly for a thorough cleaning.
About the same time as this news hit, a coworker posted a site where you can see a map of confirmed cases near you. (Although it doesn’t seem to know where I am.)
We have ventured out about once per week. Here is what it looked like on Laowai Jie (Foreigner Street – a 27 restaurant pedestrian area) on a Sunday afternoon.
In summation, at this point, I would say there are no panics. The stores are not suffering from empty shelves. We can get what we need, although delivery might take a little longer or be a little more challenging. Clearly, this time is hard on small businesses, like restaurants, who were either forced to close completely, or to provide food by delivery only, or are open, but have little to no customers.
We are just dealing with boredom and being sedentary.
Living the Travel Channel 