More Advice from Wuhan

I got to chat yesterday with one of my colleagues from Wuhan, who has been quarantined since February. Her biggest tips were to make sure I have enough cleaning supplies, and sanitize everything. I've been heeding her advice - everything gets wiped down when we come inside (phones, keys, bags, hands washed of course), and I've now implemented a household rule that shoes are to be left by the door, and clothes changed right away. I'm also going to start doing laundry more frequently.

This morning, I had a call with another colleague from Wuhan. We hadn't spoken yet this year. He was actually visiting his family in another area when the quarantine occurred, so he is still there. His biggest piece of advice was to just stay inside, avoid going in public as much as possible, get things delivered. I'm settling in to take that advice, as well. (He was also really promoting masks, which we don't really have in the US and have been advised won't help anyway; we don't have the same mask culture they do in Asia.) He mentioned the tight oversight in China - even outside of Wuhan, he and his family were monitored daily by local authorities, who also held regular meetings to give status updates. And our employer created an app for colleagues in China to check in and report on their health.

Currently none of our colleagues have been infected, not even in Wuhan, which I think is a great accomplishment! But it's not like the virus has been eradicated. There are still new cases every day, just fewer than before. And there are many people who haven't yet recovered (or died). Everyone there is either quarantined or severely restricted.

Meanwhile, I already haven't been sleeping well for weeks. The last few days I haven't had an appetite either - I've actually lost a few pounds. Guess it makes up for not going out to the gym 😕 Mentally I actually am feeling a lot better today than I have for the last couple days, i.e. not randomly bursting into tears 🤷‍♀️ Maybe it's because more people seem to be grasping the severity of things.