In 2020, coronavirus spread to almost every country on this planet. According to the report on September 14th, nearly 30 million people was infected, and over 90 thousand died of it. This epidemic is a tragedy to humankind. Although governments all over the world took different measures to control the virus, the New Zealand government had done a much better job.
New Zealand has had level 4 and level 3 alarms, and both of them were on point. These smart moves, which showed respect for life and people, have effectively restrained the virus. Controlling the spread of this virus damaged this country’s economy, however, citizens’ health should be the priority. As long as there are people, everything will go back to normal, and development can be achieved.
How a government handles the virus reflects its governing capacity. More importantly, most New Zealanders are good citizens and residents who act in accordance with government regulations, which helps keep a lower infection and mortality rate.
As a senior citizen, I belong to the high-risk group of getting infected. It’s our basic responsibility to follow the government guidance, minimize the chance of getting infected in order to reduce the burden on the government.
In February 2020, the situation in Wuhan, China, had already been serious. When my son-in-law and my grandson came back from China, we arranged a new room for them to quarantine separately from us for half a month. During that time, I collected their tableware, which I cleaned and disinfected. I used to be a surgeon, so I know well about disinfection and sterilization, and I think it should also be effective in avoiding infectious diseases.
My granddaughter is in high school now. Her mother sent her to her classmate’s place for two weeks’ quarantine.
This May, when we were in lockdown, I needed my medicine. So, I informed my doctor of my needs and the pharmacy near my house. The doctor sent the prescription before we called the pharmacy to set a time of delivery. Then, my meds were put outside my house, very punctual and convenient. In this way we also avoided contact.
At our community center, we have all kinds of amazing activities, and English class for the elderly is one of them. Before the lockdown, we had English class every Wednesday and Saturday. Every class attracted a large crowd. During lockdown, we had to stop coming to the class. But the teachers started online courses according to ELP ?English Language Partner?through Zoom. We were thrilled to see each other online and gave our best wishes to each other. Of course, we should be thankful for these teachers, because they have been volunteering in this community for over a decade, and have continued teaching during such a special time.
My wife and I have some Chinese friends, with whom we often go travelling, dine out and talk about the culture in New Zealand, our kids’ life and work, as well as our grandchildren. We enjoyed those moments. Now during lockdown, I feel disappointed that we can’t do the same. Modern technology, however, has provided us with methods of communication. WeChat has been the most common way for us to chat whether in words, voices or video. It’s very easy, and we as seniors like it very much.
I also fancy going out, getting on public transportation, including bus, train and ferry. I have been to many places in Auckland, therefore I can say I know the city well. For example, the layout of towns, transport facilities, shopping malls, residential styles, public gardens, museums, etc. I took pictures of the scenery that interested me and saved them in memory card so that I can relive those moments when I’m too old to go out. Of course we cannot do these recently, I just walk around my house. My wife and daughter have repeatedly warned me not to take public transportation. Recently, I walked to a bus station. Seeing all the passengers waiting there were wearing masks, I couldn’t resist the temptation of getting on the bus. We were only allowed to use the back door, and there was a stop sign between the driver and the pass to the front door. Both the driver and the passengers were wearing masks, which made me feel that New Zealanders were models of law-abiding.
We should prepare ourselves to live with Covid-19 for a long time, and we are supposed to always do personal protection, not go to any gathering. Whenever we go out, we should wear a mask and use tissues to press the button at the crossroads and on a bus. Disinfection needs to be done properly. We need to wash hands and face immediately when we get home. When meeting with others, masks and social distancing are required. The virus is still a mystery. Its source and ways of infection still remains unclear. Not to mention it has been mutating, no one knows how effective the vaccine can be, because it may work on one type of coronavirus and fail on another. Maybe the virus will last a very long time. Throughout the history, humans have been challenged by countless pandemics, but we manage to cure many diseases that affect human health badly, like small pox, malaria, schistosomiasis, poliomyelitis with the efforts of scientists. I believe scientists can help us triumph over Covid-19, it’s a new challenge facing them.
October 8th, 2020
