There seems to be no shortage of panic emerging from social media regarding the current outbreak of the Coronavirus here in China. As a result of the spread of this virus (current confirmed count is 14,568) my work has been cancelled for the month of February and, in my estimation, won’t probably recommence until sometim mid-March or later. Since I do mostly piece work here in China, this directly affects my income to the extent that, quite literally, the base pay I receive in my contract, after tax, only barely pays my rent.
This has prompted some to question if I’ll continue to stay in China or flee or leave to somewhere else “safer”. My answer has been, so far…
No, I’m not leaving.
I mean, what else is there that I could possibly do? Move countries? Seek hiding? Flee? Evacuate? Go home?
And then do what?
“But you’re health is more important than…”
Than what? And how would life be any different anywhere else?
I understand that there is a huge concern with the spread of this Coronavirus but when put into perspective, China has survived SARS 20 years ago and it doesn’t look like they’re going to make the same mistakes that they made then. Of course they can’t guarantee the death toll or spread of infection in terms of numbers but in reality, they can put in place measures and controls to help stymie the spread of the disease. And, as far as I can see, that’s what they’re doing. Twitter might disagree with me but here in Beijing, feet on the ground, there are few people around and those that are around are all covering up much more than before.
In all seriousness, is there anything else I can do?
One person asked me what my plan was. I replied very simply: I’m going to continue to study Chinese and Japanese, budget my money, and then go to Japan at the end of February as planned. I may even extend my trip if I can, either earlier into February or later into March.
But is that reasonable? Or should I evacuate?
The problem with “evacuating” as people imagine it to be is that, first of all, it costs money. The “government”, whichever one you belong to or pay your taxes to, doesn’t cover this expense. I don’t have travel insurance since I live here in Beijing and our health insurance policy doesn’t cover this instance unless things got really bad and we HAD to leave, and then it’d be a lot of paperwork for the claim.
Further to that point, most travel insurance won’t cover the Coronavirus outbreak. Is it a trip cancellation? Nope, I live here. Emergency medical coverage? I’m covered here. Medical Evacuation emergency? Again, I’m both covered here and medical evacuations still aren’t free. Is it a trip interruption? Um, hard to argue that point and I’d probably need some very good, high-paid lawyers to convince someone I’m simply travelling through China right now… though I’m not saying it can’t be argued.
Next, if I did evacuate, where would I go? Back in Canada? And do what? Get a job? And what about all of the stuff I have here in Beijing, you know, the whole building up a life overseas? The evac planes probably aren’t in the shipping business. Even if it’s just temporary, then I’m still paying rent and utilities and now I’m adding the cost of flights into the mix.
But Steve, it’s not about the money!
You’re right… neither was 2017, but those of you who have been following long, moving around the world isn’t cheap no matter how much your soul or love or whatever is in it. Airplanes and other staff don’t work on goodwill.
In any event, I’ll plead the statistics here even with the rather scary numbers printed in the last few days:
But I want you to focus on two things in that above screenshots:
First, the number of people recovering from the virus. That number has been increasing and has now eclipsed the number of people who have succumbed to the virus.
Second, I want you to notice where the deaths are happening. They are all happening in Hubei province, that is, WuHan, where the virus was first detected. Here’s the number for Beijing where I live:
183 cases. 1 death. In a city of 23 million people. During a lockdown. In a country where everyone usually wears a mask anyway. The only major change they have to make is that they have to wash their hands more and stop blatantly picking their noses and then touching other things. This is an adjustment they can make. And they are.
Further, I highly suspect that the number of cases has increased dramatically because more people are going to the hospital at the first sign of illness, something they may not have done if it was any other time. How many times in Canada have you gone to the doctor and told them “I’m sick” and they check a few things and then send you home with the only prescription of lots of rest, plenty of fluids, and see how you feel in a week. THAT’S first world / developed-country medicine.
Whatever the case may be, there are more people confirmed to have the virus and it has now surpassed the number that officially had SARS way back in the early 2000s. This is scary. What’s more scary is that the virus has been found in other countries in people who have never been to WuHan or China but have had contact with people who had been there. This is mostly because of large tour groups, as found in several news reports that cruise ships and bus loads of people are being inspected around the globe with tourists from Mainland China.
Could I get a job in a neighbouring country if I didn’t want to go back to Canada?
Sure, but, given that I’ve been in China for a while now, especially the last few months, I’d be under quarantine and, no doubt, face some sort of further stigma. Further, unless I work under the table, work permits and visas take months to process and actually receive (think five or six months if all goes well). And that doesn’t take into account the fact that a lot of official visas require paperwork (such as a recent police background check) that must be done in my home country. You see how the costs can quickly add up?
Next, which country? The main reason I came to China is because of the job opportunities and the money. Mongolia? Nope. Japan? Sure, but oversaturated with ESL folks and to get a proper university job would require being fluent in Japanese… and I’m nowhere near that. South Korea? Yes, but similar to Japan in job prospects though fewer requirements to get a university gig. Southeast Asia? Vietnam is the only country that anybody over here has talked about as having any sort of decent income anywhere close to what can be made here in China.
What about somewhere completely different?
Now we’re talking about a complete move and that seems unlikely.
Given all of the above, there’s really no other place that can offer the same set up that I currently have in China right now. And to start again, not that I haven’t done it a few times in the past, is not something I want to do right now nor do I think it would be prudent to jump to that conclusion.
So what would it take to get me to move?
I’m not sure I have a definite answer but I think what would push me out is if there was a drastic increase in the numbers, especially in Beijing. It’s not as if this same outbreak can’t happen elsewhere (which is the reason why so many countries and cities are locking down transport to and from China), but the chance of catching an infection would be less elsewhere. Even if work didn’t resume for a few months, I could still make things work better here than I could elsewhere.
And on that point, I guess one thing that would sort of make me leave is if the fear lasted so long that the visa office shut down and they stopped issuing visas to foreigners (which seems unlikely) which would mean that I have until November to see how things shape up.
So, overall, I appreciate the concern from others but I’m sitting here in Beijing and not seeing any sort of panic. I’d be wary of suggesting to anyone that they follow the news feeds on Twitter or Weibo as both platforms are completely overrun with end-of-the-world hysteria. We’re not in medieval times nor is China really a developing country in many respects, so I can’t see how this would be the end of anything.
Don’t get me wrong, it is almost like Thanos snapped his fingers, but, even in that case, the quiet that remains still has life behind it.