Read about how one family travelled around the world during the pandemic, always managing to evade and stay one step ahead of the dreaded disease.
My friends Josh and Sally had moved to China to work. It was their dream to work and live in China. They wanted to travel the world. Each year they would choose another country to tour during their annual leave. They have happily lived in China now for many years. Their adult children were now living overseas too and sometimes travel with them on their holidays. As usual, Josh and Sally had left China for their once a year holiday to another country. One of their adult children joined them and they toured parts of Europe. The Covid-19 infection started, affecting China and other countries. A nation-wide emergency was called in Italy. Josh and Sally were in Florence when this happened. It was the 13th of February 2020 that I received the first message from Josh saying they were “stuck” in Florence.
On the 28th of February I heard from Josh responding to my message asking if he and Sally were “ok”. He replied and said, “Thanks Jennie. Yes, there are quite a few cases in Italy now. We’re still in Florence and notice a growing number of people wearing masks. Some areas north of us are in quarantine. We were booked to fly out of Florence on Tuesday, 3 March. However, we are worried that they (Italy) might stop flights before then. We’re now booked to fly out to London tomorrow (we will see our daughter) and leave there to fly back to Beijing on March 3. Once back in Beijing, we have to follow quarantine protocol of staying in our apartment for 14 days.”
Like other countries, quarantine included ordering food and groceries to their home. Whilst Sally and Josh were not looking forward to “locked down” they both felt grateful that they could get back to China in this difficult time.
Josh went on to write, “Not worried about the virus as such. I don’t want to catch it of course. But I don’t want to catch a cold or flu either. If our temperature reading is up, (for whatever reason), when we arrive at Beijing airport, the quarantine will be in a Chinese facility until tests show we do not have Corona virus.”
Josh and Sally spent a few days with their daughter in London and left on the planned day, now relieved as the infection was rapidly growing in the United Kingdom (UK). They were concerned they would not be able to leave the UK.
They arrived in China and both Sally and Josh had normal temperatures. They were allowed to travel home in a taxi where they commenced a 14-day quarantine. On the 22nd March I received the next message:
“We’re back in our apartment and have finished our 14-day quarantine on Wednesday”.
Then a few days later Josh said, “We’ve finished quarantine. We can get out and about. Still a bit restrictive. You get your temperature taken everywhere you go AND returning to our apartment community.” It was the 9th of April and I posted a photo with me holding the last toilet paper we had in the house. Grocery stores had shelf after shelf empty of the usual rows of toilet paper, tissues and paper towels.
People in Australia had panicked and purchased huge amounts of toilet paper and other essentials. Restrictions were put in place and people aged 70 or older were allowed to come to the supermarkets earlier than other customers. My friend who has just turned 70 lined up at 6.30 a.m. Already there were five people in front of him waiting for the supermarket to open. By the time the store opened, about 30 people had lined up using social distancing waiting patiently to go into the supermarket.
Everyone cooperated and my friend walked out with a packet of toilet paper. He said that even with the restricted number of two packs of toilet paper per person, this supermarket ran out of toilet paper with just ten people buying this precious commodity.
The next day, I myself went to five supermarkets and there was no toilet paper. My family members all tried the following day, and still no toilet paper. We shared with each other the small amount we had left and kept looking. I wrote to Josh and Sally and told them what was happening in Australia. Josh wrote to me and said he laughed when he saw the photo. He sent me a photo. The photo showed him standing in a factory in China. It was the factory outlet that sold only toilet paper directly to the general public. The factory storage was high, and the shelves were long and numerous.
Thousands of toilet paper was stocked in China as overseas sales had come to a grinding halt and toilet paper was trapped in China. Yes, toilet paper is made in Australia but not to the demand of the country. Things changed quickly with additional shifts put in place to make toilet paper in Australia, 24 hours production.
My friend Josh and Sally had quite an adventure but never faced a shortage of essentials like toilet paper. Moving across countries, they seemed to be just one step ahead of the virus, stalking them right behind them.
They tried to stay positive and did, and whilst the quarantine was demanding, all they now think of is how lucky they have been in comparison to those in Melbourne and in many other countries who have been in “locked down” for weeks or even months. Like a miracle, Josh and Sally evaded the Covid-19 virus. How? Well, sometimes you can just be lucky in life.
The team at Healthovation and HCI Australia acknowledge the challenging times due to this pandemic. We send our thoughts to those who are unwell or who have lost someone they know, to this devasting crisis.