Epidemic Diary

It has been 27 days since the new coronavirus landed in Norway on February 26. As of midnight on March 23, 2020

The cumulative number of confirmed cases in Norway? 2383

New cases in a single day? 186

Confirmed cases by medical staff? 229? People in isolation? 8822

People in hospital? 174

Cases continue to increase. The epidemic has not reached a turning point, just like other European countries with severe cases. Although the number of daily new cases is far less than that of Italy, Spain, the United States and other major countries, Norway's per capita infection rate ranks among the highest in the world, which has also made Norway a hot spot of concern among domestic friends.

As a result, various domestic self-media views on Norway have become hot searches, ranging from misinterpreting the Norwegian Prime Minister’s intention to transport materials, to criticizing Norway for being anti-China, and then to the conclusion: In the face of the Norwegian epidemic, China Help should not be offered.

We Chinese in Norway break into a cold sweat when we see these heart-wrenching opinions of domestic keyboard players. But as a civilian, I am not interested in politics. I just want to tell you some real facts about the epidemic.

Many domestic friends may have heard about Norway because of the epidemic, but I don’t want everyone’s initial impression of Norway to be seriously biased.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, many friends have been very concerned about me and my family. They told me some practical experiences and asked me about Norway’s anti-epidemic information. They also saw the Norwegian government and Norwegian people from my epidemic articles. Attitudes and strategies towards the epidemic.

Today I want to sort out and summarize my life during the epidemic in the past month.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, the Norwegian government has been promoting that ordinary people do not need to wear masks in the face of the new coronavirus. This is also the initial propaganda guidance of other European countries. On the one hand, it may be due to the cultural differences between the East and the West, and other reasons are unknown. It may be due to the shortage of resources in Norway, or it may be due to underestimation of the power of the new crown, etc.

So at least until now, no locals have been found wearing masks when going out, even when going to relatively densely populated pharmacies and supermarkets.

But for us Chinese in Norway, we all take the epidemic very seriously, so from the beginning of the epidemic, we have been planning and trying it in our hearts and now we are taking action. Most of the friends I know, when they are away from home, Wear a mask at all times, especially when you have to go to supermarkets and pharmacies.

However, according to domestic experience, wearing a mask is essential to prevent the spread of the epidemic. It is unknown whether the Norwegian government will advocate wearing masks in the future development of the epidemic.

Even under the current severe epidemic situation, most Norwegian locals have not panicked. If you want to sum it up in one word, it should be: calm. This is in sharp contrast to the local Norwegian Chinese.

Because we, the local Chinese, know enough about the domestic epidemic and the price the Chinese government and people have paid to fight the epidemic, we take the Norwegian epidemic very seriously. Therefore, we saw the government taking no action in the early stages of the epidemic. is very anxious.

With the severity of the epidemic, the Norwegian government still has not adopted the suspension of work and school that we expected. Some groups of Chinese in Norway began to have a small panic and began to try to charter flights back home.

When the Norwegian government announced the suspension of work and school and a nationwide lockdown, we Chinese were even more helpless.

However, the calmness of the majority of Norwegians cannot conceal the awareness and attention of a small number of people. In fact, there are also local whistleblowers in Norway, warning the Norwegian authorities and the Norwegian people that they must copy China's practices.

As mentioned above, when the number of confirmed cases surged for several days, on the 16th day after COVID-19 entered Norway, the Norwegian government announced the suspension of work and school on the afternoon of March 12. Subsequently, the government introduced various policies to deal with the epidemic. The various impacts of work and school shutdowns on families and businesses. Then on March 16, Norway announced a nationwide lockdown.

However, in order to ensure the normal operation of Norwegian people's livelihood, many key departments in Norway are still operating normally, especially the supermarkets and pharmacies most relevant to our people are open as usual.

In order to ensure that the children of employees in key positions can be taken care of, kindergartens and schools are still open to the children of these key positions, with special review and registration, and special personnel arrangements for care. Others are quarantined at home like us, and their children study online every day.

The suspension of school and work will definitely have an impact on our daily lives.

Especially for a dual-income family like ours, we can only work from home while accompanying our children, which is much more stressful and messy than our usual daily life.

Although supermarkets are open normally, most of us Chinese still choose to shop online. Although online supermarkets were not popular before the epidemic, they have now become a popular shopping method because the delivery time of online shopping is also From within 24 hours to one week now, the delivery time is longer, and there are very few online options.

Occasionally I go to the supermarket for shopping. I must wear disposable gloves and masks. At the same time, because the supermarket is just a 3-minute walk from our home, I choose to go shopping when the supermarket is about to close. Avoid large crowds.

Public transportation in Norway is still operating normally, but every passenger has been reminded to keep a certain distance. However, for me, we mainly travel by car, so there is almost no impact on traffic.

But for me, who often takes my children out for walks, these days are a lot more restrictive. At first, I could only let my children play at home. Later, when the weather improved, I put the children in the yard. The trampoline was installed immediately, and the children’s activity space was moved from indoors to the yard at home. Fortunately, no one from our neighbors came in or out of the yard, so it was relatively relaxing.

Occasionally, when the sun is bright, we will drive our children to distant places for a walk. Although we will encounter passers-by, we and our children strictly follow a few points: keep a distance from others and never talk to others. , try your best not to touch any public items, wash your hands with alcohol at any time, etc.

Use alcohol to disinfect and wash hands when entering the door. These are all changes after the epidemic. You must wear disposable gloves even when taking out the garbage, because the classified trash cans in our community are public and basically mine. One person undertakes this household activity.

In general, the shutdown of work and school has changed our daily lives, but it has not led to some irresolvable facts.

It should be said that in the early stages of the epidemic, I personally think that the government did not pay attention to the epidemic. Instead, it took a chance and tried its best to protect the economy from being affected. However, when the epidemic in Norway became serious, other European countries As countries around the world are in panic, the government has begun to wake up. While balancing economic interests, it has introduced various response policies. In addition to suspending work and school and shutting down the country, it has also spent 100 billion to help domestic companies survive the cold winter. Even the king has done so. Television speech.

The government has paid enough attention to it, but the development of the epidemic does not depend on people's will. Norwegian medical staff have now confirmed 229 cases and quarantined nearly 8,822, which fully demonstrates how well Norwegian medical staff protect themselves against the new coronavirus. Very fragile and in need of ideological change, material help, and knowledge improvement.

At the same time, the isolation policy promoted by the Norwegian government is also surprising.

Furthermore, the Norwegian government has announced that it will not test people with mild symptoms.

This makes us more worried about the development of the epidemic in Norway.

On the afternoon when the Norwegian government announced the suspension of work and school, long queues formed in major supermarkets in Norway. This is a rare spectacle in Norway. Isn’t this panic buying or what?

And everyone has huge carts piled high. Supermarket shelves have been emptied out, with fresh vegetables and fruits, flour, bread, noodles, potatoes, eggs, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other food and daily necessities bearing the brunt. Alcohol, disinfectant, etc. have all run out.

However, there was no panic buying of masks because it has been difficult to buy masks in Norway.

The answer is definitely no. I am afraid that few people stay behind closed doors, because free space is what any normal person needs, unless the government bans it.

Behavior is determined by thoughts. Most people in Norway are relatively calm about the new crown epidemic. Even though the Norwegian government announced the suspension of work and school and the closure of the country, in their opinion, it may be unnecessary. Many people in our community Families are still visiting each other, and their children are still playing together outside, even though experts have pointed out that children should not play together at home.

So for local Norwegians, it is impossible to stay behind closed doors.

As for us Chinese Norwegians, our views are the same: go out as little as possible, don’t go out if you can’t, and wear a mask when going out.

We also occasionally go out to take out the trash, occasionally go shopping in the supermarket, occasionally drive for a walk, etc.

We believe that staying behind closed doors is the best defense against the epidemic.

This issue cannot be generalized. Everyone has their own practical problems and dilemmas.

As a family of four, we have no plans to return to China for the time being. Not only is the journey back home very difficult, but there is also the risk of cross-infection. There are also unknown issues that we need to consider:

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(1) For example, when will the epidemic end?

(2) How long will the suspension of work and school last? What about the children’s education? What about our jobs?

(3) Which is safer, staying at home or returning home?

I remember Zhang Wenhong said: Take personal protection, maintain social distance, wash hands and disinfect frequently, and wear a mask. If you do these things, the possibility of infection will be extremely small.

So now we continue to stay in Norway. When one day all actions cannot stop the virus from spreading, and when we need to escape death, I think our motherland will not abandon us.

Written at the end:

In the face of the epidemic, Chinese sons and daughters, no matter where we are, we are a community with a shared destiny. Only if we do our best and protect ourselves, Only by adhering to the basic principles of epidemic prevention can we protect ourselves from harm, prevent our families from being frightened, and prevent our motherland from causing further trouble.