It’s been 44 days since I learned of the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Everything that has happened since reading that article six weeks ago seems to have played out in a weird time warp. A sense that it’s all a distant memory, with flashes of feeling only days have passed, augmented by imminent danger. It’s as hard to understand as it is to explain.
Yet, slowly but surely, the city of Shanghai is starting to breathe again.
Each day we receive notice of cafes, restaurants, and bars reopening, albeit with a limited menu and reduced hours. Many are offering deals and discounts trying to recoup lost earnings after being closed for weeks. Nearly all are offering home delivery. However, the streets remain quieter than usual, and locals I’ve spoken to are still too scared to go out.
We’ve received no further news regarding Shanghai schools reopening. I read a statistic last week that of the more than 46,000 international students enrolled in Shanghai schools, only 4,012 are currently in Shanghai. That’s a lot of displaced families having to travel back to Shanghai for the start of school. Olivia’s school requires students and teachers to complete a 14-day quarantine at home when they return to Shanghai, and before they can attend school. Leading me to believe that even after schools reopen it will be a long time before things are back to normal.
Today marks the start of week five of Liv’s schooling from home. Last week we played catch up with the home learning from previous weeks. Keeping Liv focused has been an effort, but we are slowly getting used to it. Each Monday morning, we receive her weekly task list set for each subject via the school portal. There is no ‘due by’ date, so she can complete the set work in whichever order she likes during that week. Some tasks require submission for review by the teachers. In addition to the set tasks, her class has two, one hour, Zoom sessions. She thoroughly enjoys these sessions as she gets to see her teacher and classmates. Olivia’s teacher is conducting the Zoom sessions from the UK. There is another Zoom session held for the children in a US time zone, so they are all getting some contact hours at least.
No surprise the Chinese economy has taken a hit! Businesses are implementing some pretty drastic measures to cut costs, but by order of the government, the companies are not to lay off employees. Some businesses have already gone belly up. With no one travelling or planning group events, hotels are virtually empty. Last week, Steve and his colleagues, found out their hours for March would be cut to two days a week. Yes, that’s eight days pay for the entire month of March. The remaining days will be unpaid leave.
We could panic and start planning an escape, but what good would that do us? With cases of Covid-19 popping up in countries all over the world and more travel bans issued, the travel and hotel industry worldwide is going to take a hit. So we will sit tight and ride this out in Shanghai.
It’s not often we get to spend quality family time together at home. Contrary to popular belief, being married to a chef does not mean you have restaurant-quality meals cooked at home for you every night. We rarely get to sit down for a family meal together, let alone have Steve cook for us. But with Steve at home, we have been doing just that.
Steve has been teaching Liv how to make gnocchi, pasta, spaetzle and pizza. We’ve had movie nights, played board games, and somedays we’ve all just sat and read our books. I’ve learned how to use hair clippers and cut Steve’s hair because hairdressers aren’t open here. We have taken long walks through the quiet streets, visited Moganshan Road to see all the awesome graffiti. Found a pub that was open and met up with friends for Sunday lunch. We’ve let Liv practice her rollerblading on the driveway through our compound because there is no traffic coming and going nowadays. We played badminton on the lawn, and Steve has started teaching Liv to juggle. We are using the time to reconnect as a family.
As we make the most of this time together, we are keenly aware the panic we felt all those weeks ago has now spread throughout the world. For weeks we have scoured news channels and articles from around the globe to keep abreast of the epidemic situation. Each day we review the statistical data; the number of infected patients, deaths, suspected cases and recoveries. We study the RO (Reproduction Rate) and Fatality Rates. All the while searching, for a minuscule detail that would give us a glimmer of hope this nightmare will soon be over.
But in the last week, we have watched in horror as Covid-19 continues to spread globally, forcing lockdowns in towns and cities outside of China and the expansion of travel bans. A getaway planned for a friends birthday at the end of March now cancelled due to flight restrictions and quarantine periods. Friends who left China at the start of all this, now hopscotch from one city to another, between hotels and AirBnB’s or rely on family and friends to put them up. In limbo and not knowing if and when they will get home to Shanghai.
In all this uncertainty, the only certainty is that we will continue to stay vigilant and use caution. And as the glimmer of hope and normalcy we search for feels further out of reach we look for silver linings. We have our health, we have each other, and we are home.
