Jorge Soler Gil, a Spanish friend of mine living in Valencia, where shutdown measures have gone into effect, warned me — or more like the United States in general — via WhatsApp Sunday morning.
Stop. Messing. Around.
“Reducid la vida social en USA. En una semana vais a estar como nosotros. Hay que ser responsable,” the 30-year-old civil engineer warned me.
“Decrease your social life in the US. In a week you’ll be like us. Be responsible.”
In Washington D.C., residents continue to go out, frequenting bars and restaurants as if there wasn’t an ongoing global pandemic. New York City isn’t much better from what other friends there have texted and tweeted.
I’ve been home, I promise. I just renewed my PlayStation online subscription and saw the zombie movie “Girl with all the Gifts” last night. There’s (too much) booze and frozen pizza in the fridge.
I forgot it was St. Patrick’s Day weekend until I saw dozens of people clad in bacteria-colored suits and leprechaun-green lined up outside Irish pubs on Saturday afternoon to — I suppose — imbibe cheap and shitty beer because, you know, that’s essential.
Yo? Yo no tengo ni insurance, ni nada. I have my Guadalupana and Vicks vaporú as my insurance. Also, I’ve never seen a doctor in this country — save for La Clínica Hispana in Houston.
Life went on as usual in Spain until the weekend.
“On Friday night, we couldn’t leave to go play sports or do anything leisurely outside. We’re home all day since Friday. I live next to my parents but I can’t go see them and the entire country is in the same position,” Soler Gil said.
Life (and elections and shutdowns) in times of coronavirus
In Europe, Italy has suffered a massive hit to its populace and overwhelmed its healthcare system as the virus has shown exponential spread. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, there have been over 21,000 confirmed cases and over a thousand people have died in Italy alone.
Spain and France put into effect countrywide restrictions this weekend, representing some of the more drastic measures Western countries have implemented to curb the virus’ spread. The Chinese government, a country where the number of infected individuals has decreased substantially, came at the cost of strict measures like travel restrictions and cordoning off entire cities.
It’s a complete upending of a normal lifestyle for young professionals and families who are accustomed to outings at bars and sporting events. Bars and cafés that were replete with people and where beer and cigarette smoke were just as abundant are now closed.
The Union of European Football Associations suspended the Champions League recently and football leagues around the world, including Major League Soccer, have indefinitely suspended their seasons. Liverpool FC might actually win the Premiere League for once.
As we speak, Mexican fútbol league games still going. Probably with La Cumbia del Coronavirus playing in the empty stadiums. (And as of as of 3:10 p.m., all games are suspended now).
And that’s just the beginning.
“I imagine that in a few days we’ll be under a complete shutdown. No work no anything.” Soler Gil said. As an engineer, he still has to show up to the work site tomorrow though he doesn’t see the reason why given the present quarantine.
For Americans working abroad, President Donald Trump’s Oval Office address on Wednesday was cause for concern though some have chosen to stay instead of braving the trip home and the health insurance industry.
Emily Larson, an American working as an English Teaching Assistant at IES Laguna de Joatzel in Getafe, said there was uncertainty about whether or not her school would close. It took until last Thursday for that to happen even as she’s still drafting lesson plans for classes that will likely not take place.
“Over the past few days like it's just been escalating and escalating and it's been changing by the hour. We were able to go out and be around until tomorrow morning. We are officially quarantined and have to stay in our houses unless we have to go to the supermarket or the pharmacy,” Larson said.
A Massachusetts native, Larson says healthcare access in Europe has proven to be more reliable. So much so, that Larson opted to stay in Spain instead of returning to the States to be with her family.
“I know that if for whatever reason I need medical attention it will be available to me here, free of charge,” Larson said. “As far as testing goes, there is a hotline we can call and they will come to our house and administer a free test.”
Sounds like an actual dream, why don’t they make an app for that? I wouldn’t even get in an ambulance if I were hit by a car - I’d rather take an uber and pay the $200 penalty.
Will she get tested for coronavirus? “I don’t feel the need to when I know there’s actual sick people that need the test,” she said.
Soler Gil said the same. “It’s important that people not go to the hospital if they’re showing symptoms. Call the hotline number and they’ll come to your home.”
Local French elections still on
In France, the first round of local elections are currently taking place after President Emmanuel Macron insisted that residents cast their ballots despite the nationwide lockdown.
This guy’s party — La République en Marche — is also expecting to get absolutely wrecked during these elections, so at least he’ll know if people really, really hate him if they turn out to vote today.
Arnaud Gout, who currently works in Paris, returned to his Montpellier home in southern France to be with his family and girlfriend.
“I didn’t vote today,” Gout said. “I was not going to go back to Paris just to vote this last Thursday with everything that is taking place. I didn’t want to stay locked in my small Paris apartment.”
Eliott Ozeel is staying in Paris for the time being with his girlfriend, brother and roommates, possibly for the entirety of the complete shutdown, which he expects will be announced tomorrow or Tuesday.
“People are leaving Paris today,” Ozeel said. “Tomorrow or in the following days we will be forced to stay in home.”
It’s going to take time to address the pandemic but Gout was taking precautions out of respect and care for his more elderly compatriots.
U.K. still doing its own thing
Over in the U.K., the new kid on the non-European Union bloc, life goes on as normal — for now.
Sam Watts, a London resident, returned from the Philippines — where President Rodrigo Duterte declared a complete lockdown of the metro Manila region for the next month — on Sunday morning. So far, Watts has been told to work from home though his girlfriend would be going into the office tomorrow.
Though the U.K. has not yet taken drastic measures like Spain or Italy, Watt says that his sister, a doctor, opines that if there’s an outbreak similar to the one in Italy, the country’s National Health Service — the kingdom’s publicly funded healthcare system — would be “completely overwhelmed.”
Watt’s mother and sister were supposed to visit his grandmother in a care home next week in Belfast but the facility has since been closed off to visitors, something that will likely continue until further notice
“I’m not really sure how things will go right now but I think, at least in the next week or so, most companies are going to be working from home,” Watts said.
C.A., a 33-year-old Spaniard working in a hospital in Middlesbrough in the U.K., said that so far there had been no strict measure in the country yet, a vastly different experience than the one back home.
“Here, they still don’t know what is going on entirely. I’m still working at the hospital with the precautions of wearing masks and keeping distance between patients. We have to sterilize everything constantly but here they still don’t know what this is all about,” C.A. said.
Take this seriously, gringos
As COVID-19 spreads, a number of American cities and states have declared states of emergencies as individual testing is still scant and available only, it seems, to congressmen, the wealthy and celebrities.
On Friday, the House passed a bill giving workers two weeks of paid sick leave, at least to small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The bill would also provide free coronavirus testing to those with and without health insurance. The Senate is scheduled to review the bill tomorrow.
Porque ahora es el tiempo de tomarse unas pinches vacaciones, verdad?
The 2020 presidential election hasn’t gone unscathed. The presidential debate Sunday evening will not have a live audience in Washington D.C.; Louisiana and Georgia have postponed their presidential primaries.
Voting, however, will continue this Tuesday in Ohio, Illinois, Arizona and Florida, essentially pulling a Macron.
“They voted during the Civil War,” Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis said on Friday.
Bruh, who was ‘they’, first of all. Y’all holding a parade after the election count, too?
Some of my European friends said that the United States was woefully behind in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. It’s only a matter of time before they’re in the same spot as us, they said.
“As a warning to places where not everyone is taking preventative measures, you’re way behind. Take this seriously, this isn’t a joke. People here are home and can’t leave. Don’t be irresponsible. If you infect someone who is high-risk, they can die,” Soler Gil said.
Gout reinforced that claim remarking the situation would be worse with Trump at the helm.
“Of course people are still relaxed and many things are locked down but it’s not crazy. But to you guys, it’s going to hit you hard. Your healthcare system is shit and seeing how the government is administering this - it’s going to be bad,” Gout says.
Ozeel didn’t mince his words. After all, he lived in Boston for a year.
“Man, you guys are *&$@ed with that system.”