My Neighbor Has Covid
In China, that’s a big deal.
While teaching a class on Thursday, my girlfriend gave me a call. When I picked up, she was as frazzled as I’d ever heard.
A government guy just called, he said your neighbor has covid. Check your greencode now!
I rushed to check my green code and was in the clear. We called the government representative back and asked a few questions,
“do we need to quarantine? Is the person sick in quarantine? What do we do now?”
All of which was responded with a confusing,
“I can’t tell you, it’s a private matter.”
… Then why the fuck did you contact us?
Now, you may be wondering what a green code is. It’s a QR code that tracks everyone’s movement in China. It’s green if you’re clean, yellow if you came in contact, and red if you’re sick.
Luckily, this development came as China relaxed its zero-policy covid laws. Otherwise, I would have been locked in my building for one to two weeks eating government-provided rations.
Before the relaxation of Covid laws, you needed to show this code to go into the subway, supermarkets, bars, taxis, anywhere, and anything required to have a green code. Most places required proof of a negative test every 48 hours.
I may be traumatized because I started a mini-panic attack as soon as I heard this news. While the rest of the world has been living with covid, we have been stuck in 2020.
Now, there will be a massive wave of covid within China. While I’m not worried about dying, I am concerned about what may come.
So why did I write this post? I wanted to share the absurdity of the moment—the luck of the draw of the timing. More importantly, things are changing here in China. For better or for worse, I guess only time can tell.
I typically write about all things expat and China. You can find more JUST like it on my Medium landing page, where I cover all things expat and China-related.
I’m also a freelance copywriter; if you want to contact me about the services I offer, you can contact me via my portfolio website.
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