Coronavirus

Hello All!
I was going to wait a bit to write this post, but I’ve received a great deal of worried messages and calls from people. I appreciate the concern, and can only imagine what you are hearing on the news about the situation. This post is not meant to write off the gravity of the Coronavirus, but hopefully give you a better picture of what I am experiencing at the moment

A bit of history:

On December 31^st, 2019, the first known cases of Coronavirus were reported in Wuhan, China. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 29^th February 2020, there are almost 84,000 cases worldwide.  China has the highest number of cases, followed by South Korea and many other countries.  Please see the WHO link provided if you want to see the daily changes:
WHO Situation Dashboard

In mid February in South Korea, the outbreak worsened quickly when a lady (Patient 31) unknowingly spread the virus to many people when she attended multiple services at her church in Daegu. These people then unknowingly spread the virus to many others they came into contact with over the past weeks.

On Wednesday, 26^th of February, I completed orientation and signed my contract with the Daegu Ministry of Education (DMOE).  During the closing meeting, we were given the opportunity to back out of the EPIK program due to the current Coronavirus outbreak within the city.  Those of us who decided to stay (we were the majority), were advised multiple times to wear the masks we have been provided, and use the hand sanitizers the DMOE gave us.  We were then placed on our respective buses and 3 hours later arrived in Daegu to meet our Co-Teachers.  As the government had decreed all schools delay opening until the 9^th of March, all teachers have been home working on lesson plans.  Our Co-Teachers were kind to meet us at the bus stop and introduce us to our apartments, neighborhoods, and markets.  All of us were wearing masks, and I do not think I saw anyone even try to shake hands. 
Since Wednesday, I have been in my apartment, except for 2 times I went out to buy some necessities (food, water, organizing containers, etc). Daegu is the 4^th largest city in South Korea, and there is barely anyone around.  People must continue about their daily lives, but they tend to not congregate.  The majority of my purchases have been online, and the deliveryman leaves the boxes at the door, rings the doorbell and runs.  It reminds me of the childhood game Ding Dong Ditch which I was always terrible at.. I would refuse to the be DDD-er and would instead hide behind the bushes and burst out laughing on accident. 

Daily, at 12:50pm, and 4:10pm, the government comes on the city intercom and gives a reminder to the people of Daegu to stay inside, practice good hygiene, and call the emergency number if they show any symptoms.  We also receive multiple alerts on our phones daily saying the same thing. If you would like to follow South Korea’s updates specifically, you can check out the Korea Herald

Today, Saturday the 29^th of February, we were informed that Daegu schools have been delayed to start the 23^rd of March. At this time, we should still be receiving our regular salary, and our paid time off should not be affected.  I hope to receive materials from my co-teachers and begin preparing lessons, however they feel it is safer to just wait and see what happens.  I’m sure we will all be so bored at some point that they will decide to do video conferences and plan..  In the meantime, I am working to organize and decorate my apartment to make it feel like home (don’t worry! I’ll eventually post about that too!)

Thank you for reaching out, and seeing how you could help. At this time, calls and maybe silly memes are most helpful. I haven’t really figured out what kinds of items would be needed for care packages…

Heres hoping we all have enough soju and ramien to last us for nourishment, hand sanitizer for hygiene, and sanity to keep us all calm during this time!