It's been more than a month of the entire world talking about the coronavirus. Just last week I came back from a month long trip to Asia and I finally feel like speaking on this issue. The panic had already started as I was leaving. Panic located here in our little Czech basin, where hundreds of people die every year because of plain old flu. I admit that even I was starting to panic. To the point where I wanted to cancel my dream trip. But thankfully I didn't...
But... I said that we wouldn't leave without respirator masks. Getting some was literally a herculean task, same as disinfectant. The Czech people had gone crazy and bought out everything.
All Asians were wearing masks on the plane. A few of our countrymen too, other brave "white" Europeans usually traveled light, meaning without protection. I was feeling like an idiot, but fear wouldn't let go, so I only took my mask off to eat. I'll tell you, managing to wear that thing for twenty hours was hell. Thinking that I'd go out jogging in that, I'd rather die. And I did see many Asians doing sports wearing masks during my travels.
Luxusní byt na prodej s terasou a výhledem, Praha 1
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When I finally arrived in the lovely weather of warm and nice-smelling Vietnam, I immediately threw my face mask away, because statistically there were only very few infected among those millions of people. The Vietnamese themselves are so stressed out that there's not a chance in hell they'd put their face masks aside. They even upgraded their face masks to various colors and patterns. I feel like it became this fashion wave of sorts, whoever has the most stylish masks.
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Na obyčejnou chřipku zemřou ročně po celém světě tisíce lidí. Source: Pixabay
The Asians are learning hygiene
It happened many times that the guides reminded us to wash our hands, use face masks and protect ourselves. Imagine people eating their noodles in the street sitting in small plastic chairs, zero hygiene, because the beef lying over there in that dusty bowl definitely does not comply with any hygiene regulations, and they're lecturing me that to protect myself from the virus I have to wash my hands... Funny.
Even if I can't tell the difference between a Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese person (and it 's a shame!), I know there were no Chinese people because Vietnam had banned all flights into their country. Asian countries are still dealing with the low numbers of tourists, probably because many people canceled their flights. So I enjoyed half-empty hotels, a large selection of everything, no crowds of travel-hungry white people.
World economy may have suffered, the healthcare systems of all countries are dealing with a shortage of masks and protective suits, tourism is dropping into red numbers, but me, I personally enjoyed myself immensely. I understood that the hysteria surrounding the coronavirus is needlessly serious. I'm not saying people shouldn't be alert. I won't be traveling to China, but there really is no reason to ruin your holiday. On top of that, 99% of the people who'd died from the coronavirus are Chinese, old and sick. In retrospect I do not understand the panic that the world has created. I hope that even as the numbers keep rising and will keep on rising, we will all calm down...
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Měření teploty se nikde nekoná. Source: Facebook
Sick people all around me
One comes back to their country and suddenly realizes that everyone around them is sick, except for them. The flu is simply terrible and infection prevention is important. Coronavirus or no coronavirus.
I'm most amused by the articles saying stuff like where to sit on a plane in order not to get infected. Allegedly, the window seat is the safest. I was screaming from laughter. Same as when an American was telling me that when you get the coronavirus, you should drink a lot of water. In order to flush it down from your throat to your stomach. Jesus Christ...
