I have seen this post on Facebook recently and got permission from the author to republish it here. It comes from the epicentre of the outbreak, in China:
WHAT I AM LEARNING ON LOCK-DOWN: How Long??????
We are entering our 8th week of lock down in China. 2 months. And It feels unreal that most of my children have not left our community for 2 months!
[…] has been the one to go for grocery and needs runs, however went 17 days without going anywhere at one time. We decided at the beginning of things closing down, to limit the amount of trips out of the house. Our reasoning? The main reason is that if someone is diagnosed with the virus, and you shopped at the same store, someone will be knocking on your door here to check and possibly quarantine you. We heard many cases of this. Even a round up of 11,000 people occurred, after a outdoor market vendor was diagnosed.
So part of the “How Long” will depend on others around you, so be encouraging one to another to keep healthy distancing.
From our experience here, we are on our 2nd month and we are entering a new phase. IT is a mixed emotion of RELIEF and hope when we hear the numbers are minimum. Yet there is still high concern that when society ventures out from their houses, will it come back? So after all we have gone through these past 2 months, you get to a point where you are not wanting everyone to RUSH out too early and rebound.
Yet with the economy the way it is, it is critical!
Many of you have asked me How long I think your country will take before this is all over….. if you take serious precautions and practice strong hygiene, maybe 3-4 months hopefully…..but it is variable upon human choices and also medical ability…
Just like America is pointing out that there are consequences for China’s President being late in telling the public, there are also consequences for countries around the world not responding with due diligence and speed as well.
When the government and medical community here said maybe in April things will look better, I cringed and felt dismayed. But after the first 3 weeks, we settled into a new way of thinking and operating. It still feels weird, but once the original HYPE and Shopping rushes, and the new media starts to find everyone is no longer glued to the screens so they start reporting on other topics, it just becomes more of a team spirit way of living!
I hope you will find useful this encouraging message.