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!
No comments:
Post a Comment