The situation in South Korea is getting worse, but still not a major panic. The government and the U.S. Army are implementing (not always rational) measures to try to contain the spread of the virus.
We are peppered with "Extreme Emergency" alerts on our phones at the rate of about 12 a day at the moment. Some of the alerts let us know where the new cases are located so we can avoid those areas. Today (Sunday) we have gotten two asking us not to go to religious services. Although communication in general is good, the frequency of the alerts, not to mention the very loud sound our phones make when they come in, don't really help calm the nerves in this situation. At least Simon has gotten so used to the alarm sound that it doesn't bother him anymore. He just says "someone else is sick, I guess." I have started turning my phone off at night because they come just as frequently at night.
All on-base gatherings have been cancelled for the week again, except we were allowed to have church services this morning as long as we didn't shake hands, hug, or socialize for an extended period afterwards. But there won't be any school or child care again for this week. Good news for the kids, not such good news for the parents!
Information about who can access the base and when has been very confusing and sometimes contradictory. Essential personnel can always get on, but those of us who aren't essential are sometimes told to stay away. If we can get on the base we have to go through a health screening and have our temperatures taken. They also ask if we've been in an increasingly long list of places within the last 14 days. However, this list doesn't seem to mean much and is different at different gates. This morning the local train station was on the list, and I had been there 10 days ago, but I was allowed to go through anyway. At another gate that my husband went through they had the hospital I had visited Friday on the list. But since it wasn't on the list I was shown then I was fine. We suspect that communication among those in charge is not quite what it should be.
Sadly, we heard this morning that the Korean government official in charge of emergency response committed suicide this morning. There is a not-well-understood problem with suicide in this country and this poor man was the latest victim. One's public reputation is very important here, and I suppose he felt that the high number of cases, as well as the increasing number is partly his fault. In fact, however, it seems South Korea is doing very well with preventing the spread of the disease and quarantining people rapidly when they've been exposed. Perhaps the problem was how very transparent they are being about it all. Everyone knows just how bad it is, which perhaps he felt reflected badly on him.
On the positive side, we are managing pretty well. We have plenty of food, the weather is nice and we can get outside to play. I was also (thankfully!) able to schedule my much-needed arm surgery quite quickly since most people are staying away from hospitals unless absolutely needed. All-in-all it could be much worse!
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Corona Part 2
South Korea has gone to full alert status due to the virus and the American community seems to be in near-panic mode.
Even though there are very few cases of the virus in our area, yesterday almost everything non-essential was shut down. Schools, child care and any church-related activities are canceled: pretty much anything that would mean gathering in groups. Most of the base gates are closed, and the few that are open have staff to check your temperature and symptoms before you can enter. This has caused hours-long and miles-long traffic jams, which means that most people in this area can't get to work. I'm not confident these measures were really thought through in the way they should have been!
My Korean tutor texted me yesterday to see if I could still come to my lesson. She's super bored because lots of Americans are too worried to go out. I went to my lesson partly because I wanted to hear how things are on the Korean side of things. People don't seem to be overly worried, although there were fewer people out and about, but support for the church at the center of the biggest outbreak is waning. It seems Koreans are very tolerant of alternative beliefs as long as the members keep it to themselves more or less, but now that the church's activities are affecting everyone else people are not so indifferent. The church was rather secretive prior to this outbreak, but they've lost all of their secrecy at this point. It turns out there are four congregations right here in Peyongtaek that most people knew nothing about.
Incidentally, this conversation led to an amusing one about religion in general in Korea. There doesn't seem to be any religion that wouldn't be tolerated here, but my tutor said she couldn't join any religion that would restrict how much or what kind of meat she could eat. They REALLY love meat here, especially seafood and pork. This might explain why Buddhism doesn't have quite the same hold here as in some other Asian countries, since it generally encourages a vegetarian or vegan diet.
So far we're surviving just fine, although I'm really regretting not going to the commissary yesterday. There doesn't seem to be any hope of getting either there or the post office in the next couple of days. I suppose this will be a good opportunity to explore Korean shops a little more!
Even though there are very few cases of the virus in our area, yesterday almost everything non-essential was shut down. Schools, child care and any church-related activities are canceled: pretty much anything that would mean gathering in groups. Most of the base gates are closed, and the few that are open have staff to check your temperature and symptoms before you can enter. This has caused hours-long and miles-long traffic jams, which means that most people in this area can't get to work. I'm not confident these measures were really thought through in the way they should have been!
My Korean tutor texted me yesterday to see if I could still come to my lesson. She's super bored because lots of Americans are too worried to go out. I went to my lesson partly because I wanted to hear how things are on the Korean side of things. People don't seem to be overly worried, although there were fewer people out and about, but support for the church at the center of the biggest outbreak is waning. It seems Koreans are very tolerant of alternative beliefs as long as the members keep it to themselves more or less, but now that the church's activities are affecting everyone else people are not so indifferent. The church was rather secretive prior to this outbreak, but they've lost all of their secrecy at this point. It turns out there are four congregations right here in Peyongtaek that most people knew nothing about.
Incidentally, this conversation led to an amusing one about religion in general in Korea. There doesn't seem to be any religion that wouldn't be tolerated here, but my tutor said she couldn't join any religion that would restrict how much or what kind of meat she could eat. They REALLY love meat here, especially seafood and pork. This might explain why Buddhism doesn't have quite the same hold here as in some other Asian countries, since it generally encourages a vegetarian or vegan diet.
So far we're surviving just fine, although I'm really regretting not going to the commissary yesterday. There doesn't seem to be any hope of getting either there or the post office in the next couple of days. I suppose this will be a good opportunity to explore Korean shops a little more!
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Corona Virus
As I'm sure people have heard, the big news at the moment in South Korea is the corona virus going around. The initial panic seems to have subsided, but there's still plenty of concern about what will happen as the virus plays out. Here have been some of our experiences.
This is a mobile phone alert about hand washing and using a face mask and staying in contact with health services. We've had three of these so far.
There are also signs up along the roadway as additional reminders. This one also reminds you to wash your hands and cover your mouth and nose. And gives you numbers to call for information and/or help.
Two less serious warnings I've had came from people with less-than-expert opinions. My Korean tutor told me that I should avoid the main mall in Pyeongtaek, since the one person in the city who had the virus went through the mall just before he came down with symptoms. My Filipino housekeeper also warned me not to open my windows to let in fresh air because "the virus might come in." :-)
Last week I went up to a hospital in Seoul for a routine check-up (almost all doctor's offices are inside hospitals here). Before I could make the appointment I was asked more than ten questions about whether I had been in China, had contact with anyone who had been in China, whether I had visited any other health clinics, etc. At the hospital itself they were in all-out prevention mode. As soon as I walked in the door my temperature was checked, I was made to sanitize my hands and put on a face mask. My temperature was checked two more times before I even saw the doctor. Once at the entrance to the clinic and another time while sitting in the waiting room. Unfortunately, I my temperature was slightly raised (who knows why!) so I got checked one more time before leaving. I was let go since I had no other symptoms.
While I was in the doctor's office the nurse reminded me to wear my face mask at all times. I find it a bit hard to breathe with those things on so I had pulled it down off my nose. That was not acceptable, apparently.
One benefit of all this to me personally, however, was that people are cancelling many of their appointments at the hospitals. That meant I could see an orthopedic surgeon a week earlier than I would have otherwise been able to. I am very grateful for that, at least!
The Americans in our area appear to be much less concerned than the Koreans about the virus, but I did see this sign up in the base post office yesterday.
I guess a few people are worried! :-)
This is a mobile phone alert about hand washing and using a face mask and staying in contact with health services. We've had three of these so far.
There are also signs up along the roadway as additional reminders. This one also reminds you to wash your hands and cover your mouth and nose. And gives you numbers to call for information and/or help.
Two less serious warnings I've had came from people with less-than-expert opinions. My Korean tutor told me that I should avoid the main mall in Pyeongtaek, since the one person in the city who had the virus went through the mall just before he came down with symptoms. My Filipino housekeeper also warned me not to open my windows to let in fresh air because "the virus might come in." :-)
Last week I went up to a hospital in Seoul for a routine check-up (almost all doctor's offices are inside hospitals here). Before I could make the appointment I was asked more than ten questions about whether I had been in China, had contact with anyone who had been in China, whether I had visited any other health clinics, etc. At the hospital itself they were in all-out prevention mode. As soon as I walked in the door my temperature was checked, I was made to sanitize my hands and put on a face mask. My temperature was checked two more times before I even saw the doctor. Once at the entrance to the clinic and another time while sitting in the waiting room. Unfortunately, I my temperature was slightly raised (who knows why!) so I got checked one more time before leaving. I was let go since I had no other symptoms.
While I was in the doctor's office the nurse reminded me to wear my face mask at all times. I find it a bit hard to breathe with those things on so I had pulled it down off my nose. That was not acceptable, apparently.
One benefit of all this to me personally, however, was that people are cancelling many of their appointments at the hospitals. That meant I could see an orthopedic surgeon a week earlier than I would have otherwise been able to. I am very grateful for that, at least!
The Americans in our area appear to be much less concerned than the Koreans about the virus, but I did see this sign up in the base post office yesterday.
I guess a few people are worried! :-)
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