Last week was a bit stressful as we watched the swine flu developments take place in Mexico and the US. All we kept hearing here was that a pandemic was eminent, so preparations must take place. Before we even had our first reported case in China, we were witnessing the preparedness plan put into place after the SARS outbreak in 2003. It is truly quite amazing what has been done within our expat community based on the World Health Organization's pandemic staging.
Last Tuesday when news broke and the stage was raised by WHO, our school sent home a very detailed letter informing us of new policies that would be in place during this flu outbreak. As of now, only students, teachers, support staff, and parents can enter the school and that is after all of us (imagine the line of students in the morning!) have our temperature taken and sanitize our hands. Only then can we enter through the main entrance. If you do have a temperature, you are sent home and if I understand correctly must stay home for 5 days minimum. Once you get inside of the school, all is pretty much normal, except for the buzz from most teachers trying to rush around preparing e-learning curriculum. If the WHO raises the pandemic level one more, our school will most likely close and students will use the internet to do their schoolwork. Of course, we are hoping that this does not happen, especially for the seniors who will start their IB exams next week. However, I truly appreciate the seriousness with which this outbreak has been taken and I can deal with the inconviences if it helps stop the spread of the flu.
I was talking to my neighbor from Singapore the other day and she was telling me that her children's school in Singapore was shut down for 5 weeks during SARS. The kids did e-learning during that time to complete their work. Since then, she said they have designated e-learning weeks during the school year so they can practice in case of another shutdown.
Our local SOS clinic has also taken precautions to prevent the spread of the flu should it come to Tianjin. Usually there are two doors we can enter through, but now they have locked one. At the opened door, there is a nurse who waits and takes your temperature and makes you fill out a form (this form asks about symptoms and places you have recently visited). If you have any symptoms suggesting swine flu, you are automatically put in an isolated room.
I have taken a few steps at home to prepare...I have asked ayi to order another big cooler of water so that we always have two full ones available, I also had her buy all of us the surgical masks (my thought is that if the flu reaches China, they will be sold out in a matter of minutes - the locals love those masks anyway, this would be a great excuse to wear them!), and I have talked to the pharmacist and a nurse about the availability of the anti-viral medication. We are also, of course, washing our hands like crazy! I may run out of my Bath and Body handsoap after all!
At this time, the locals do not seem too concerned about the flu threat. They know it is occurring, but it seems that they view it as a North American problem. At the fabric market today a nice lady was practicing her English with me and she told me that many people were sick in America so I should call and tell my parents "hi" from her!! It was so cute and she was so serious!
We hope you are all healthy and that this threat will pass quickly!
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