i still get my daily text from the government telling me about the infections, deaths, recoveries, inroads they are making bla bla bla. which is nice, but everyone knows is... heavily massaged. almost no new cases outside of wuhan. fun thing the government tends to do when mildly pushed, is blame foreigners. so they have, with no subtlety whatsoever, started to blame foreigners for all new infections in the country. i get old ayis spotting me and my giant ginger beard sticking out from under my facemask quickly changing side of the road. i have volunteers manning the gate at the entrance of my street - yeah, they've blocked the entire street so that only residents can enter - asking me where im from and when was the last time i was home. nothing like being rudely asked those questions by a man missing a few teeth.
really cool thing they've done though is instituted an automatic visa extension for 60 days for anyone whose visa might expire during this crisis. i gotta say, that's the either the nicest, most un-CCP thing ever, or a clever ploy to trick foreigners into overstaying their visas. we'll find out in two months.
editor's note: there's nowhere else to go anyway
they check your temperature going out of the compound where i live, going back into the compound going into markets and the likes.
social distancing is still in effect. "some" restaurants are still open but can only seat two per table; and they take your temperature going in as well as your personal details. the local restaurant in from of my building is only open to deliveries, but the german place i frequent is open until 2am, so i haven't quite figured that one out yet. bars and livehouses are still closed and no one knows when they'll open again. F&B industry in china is gonna get nuked. the chinese government has politely asked landlord to lower prices for this month and has offered interest free loans for chinese business that need it. but so far, everyone i've talked to says their landlord categorically refuses to lower rent and in most instances plan on raising it when the lease is up
schools are still closed. they plan on re-opening them one grade at a time starting next week i believe. no plan on restarting universities yet. my guess is they'll just cancel the summer holiday and have classes through it. those that work can remotely, do so. but overall, other than the social distancing thing, things are almost back to normal.
and finally, finaf***ingly, the government has straight up banned the sales of wild animals. so the kinds of markets where covid started wont be able to operate anymore. but no one thinks that'll stick. eating tiger dicks, or pangolins, or civet cats, or peacocks or pick an animal is so ingrained in the culture. the reason is always because they either give you a boner, or you receive the mystic energies of the animal. also they are expensive. and how else are you supposed to impress a client than by feeding him a peacock, then a fancy KTV room with your own private singers?
long rambling nonesense aside but, im fine, lady MD is fine, MD's cat army is fine, MD's rescue dog is fine. other than going for food, i haven't left the house since january 23rd. haven't seen any friend since then, just a complete lockdown. kind of used to it by now. as lady MD said: "two months together and i don't feel like i want to kill you? i think we'll be alright..."
so now the worst for me has passed, and now its a shitshow back home. so now im worried for my mom who has a compromised respiratory system, so now i gotta worry about that. ive been keeping her up to date so she's prepared, but you're only as prepared as the next person who isn't.
ironically, if all precautions are heeded and all the preventative measures work, then all you'll hear is about how it was just hysteria. china wouldn't willingly throw its entire economy down the shitter - which is exactly what happened - for hysteria. the entire country shutdown for a month, and then mostly shutdown for another. this virus is no joke, so be careful.
P.S., for those who are back home: WHAT THE f*** IS UP WITH THE TOILET PAPER HOARDING?
