Have you heard?
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus has reached South Korea. The country has the highest rate of cases outside of Saudi Arabia where the virus originated. The latest tally is something like 120 people infected, a few thousand in isolation, and 10 deaths.* The anxiety level is pretty high.
People are wearing masks, washing their hands compulsively, and avoiding large groups of people (movies, sporting events, crowded transportation). Mike and I have been advised to stay indoors as much as possible, always wear a mask, and to brush our teeth extra carefully. (I’m not sure if that last one is an official recommendation, or just our boss’s suggestion.)
Wearing masks on the train.
Midweek last week, many of the elementary schools shut down. Our school (a private language school, aka hagwon) closed for Thursday and Friday as well. This week, not only were the elementary schools shut down, the middle and high school students were kept home as well. We’ve been attending work and focusing on non-teaching projects while we wait for the kids to return. The plan, as of now, is for school to resume on Monday but the official decision won’t be made until Sunday night.
I think the precautions Koreans are taking can sometime seem overzealous or even silly to outsiders. However, it’s important to remember that Korea’s population is huge and the country is compact. People here come into much closer contact with each other on a daily basis than most do in the West. Sometimes on the subway I feel like I really understand the phrase, “breathing the same air.” When I think about it in those terms, it’s easier to understand the extreme anxiety.
It is definitely interesting to observe how another country handles a health crisis. So far my coworkers have been unimpressed and a bit distrustful of the government’s response. It’s also interesting to compare the English and Korean news stories. The Korean articles are much more up to date and detailed. Everything in the English press seems to lag pretty far behind.
Hopefully, the new cases and fatalities will stop increasing and life can go back to normal soon.
xo, jill
*The numbers are slightly different in pretty much every article I read.
The coworkers at one of my schools feel exactly the same way. They’re so distrustful of what the media and government are saying at the moment. One of my coteachers started to panic when she realised I wasn’t riding the bus to school wearing a mask It’s worse now that there’s a patient with a case of MERS in Gwangju now. Stay safe!
Ceri recently posted…MERS has arrived in Korea and I’m the reason it’s spreading
holy ta moly! First, you are in Korea now?! Second, Korea has MERS?! Be careful.