The Pandemic Game Plan
Author: Wei Way
There’s been a joke travelling around the Wechat netizen community; “China played the first half of the game, the rest of the world played the second half, and Overseas Chinese played the whole game.” This is exactly how we feel. I can’t claim to speak for others’ experience. I can only recount how my family is playing this cruel game. But we are thriving. Not in the traditional sense of winners and losers but in hopes of continuing in this game.
First Half
When much of the world was still grieving Kobe, word of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China started to spread within the Chinese American community. Our first reaction was concern for our families back in the motherland. We saw the fear in our family’s eyes through the phone. We worried but we couldn’t do much to help. We mostly just checked in on them through video chat as they went through this extraordinary period. Through them we learned how they passed the tough times. We saw people come together to battle the invisible enemy.
My grandpa just happened to be in the hospital before the outbreak for an unrelated condition. We saw our family work together to rescue him from the hospital in the thick of the outbreak. He would be much safer at home than the hospital. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming to see pictures and videos through the family chat group of my aunts and uncles in full protective gear rushing our grandpa in a wheelchair through the hospital and into the safety of home.
Lockdown in China was strict. Everyone had to stay within the confine of their homes. Each family was given one pass to go outside for groceries. The community gate keepers suddenly became all powerful, deciding who comes in and out and doubling as medical screener. From the local streets to the freeways, all shops were shut down and roads blocked. Public transportation were also stopped. A nation of 1.4 billion people suddenly disappeared from the streets to shelter in their high rise apartments. Keep in mind, these apartments are without yards or much room for activities. Fresh air and exercise became a luxury.
Passing time in the confinement of concrete boxes became an art. You may have seen the video of my grandmother walking back and forth on her tiny third floor balcony with her mask. She did that every day, for two months. The younger generation accustomed to eating out and food delivery, were now forced to pick up traditional cooking skills. If there is a silver lining, it’s that a lot of people came out of lockdown eating healthier and embracing nature. We saw our families transition from the initial terror, to adapting to a new lifestyle, to learning to appreciate a new way of life. A simpler life.
In early March, the infection rate started dropping in China but it was just getting started in the rest of the world. Mardi Gras went on as planned. South Beach was still spring breaking as usual. LA Marathoners weaved through the city as normal as before.
Second Half
On March 19th, Los Angeles Mayor and California Governor issued the Safer at Home order. We were officially under home quarantine. The infection rate had risen and people started realizing what was happening. The initial rush to supplies was quite a sight. Grocery stores suddenly filled with lines wrapped around the blocks and food flew off the shelves. For unknown reasons, everybody fought for toilet paper.
We are lucky to be living in Altadena where the population is significantly less dense than the inner city. Los Angeles is relatively sparse compared to San Francisco. The western states more sparse than the eastern states. And Northern than Southern Hemispheres. We had favorable starting position. If we limit our exposure and took care of our bodies, we’d be okay.
Bad news was, during this time my parents and I all came down with flu-like symptoms, coughing and congestion. We tried getting tested but were turned away because we didn’t develop fevers. This was in the beginning when tests were scarce. We had to get better on our own regardless what the virus was. The first couple of weeks were difficult. My dad carried us through. We were all feeling fatigue, but he knew we had to rely on our immune system to get through this first battle. On top of eating, drinking, and sleeping right, my dad dragged our tired bodies out of bed and we took nightly walks up the quiet hills to Angeles. Being outdoors and exercising guaranteed that we had clear air in our lungs and energizing our immune systems to battle the virus. We fought for approximately 2 weeks, the symptoms were relentless but we fought through them.
It ain’t all bad. Through this time, we learned more about each other and ourselves. Once we recovered, we fully adjusted to quarantined living. Food was going to be the most important resource. We settled on a delivery app my mother received from her work chat group. We now have a freezer full of flour based products. Bao Zi, Jiao Zi, Jian Bing, etc. Mom has been cooking nonstop. Our vegetable garden is starting to take shape after a rainy season. We had chives, green onions and chard leftover from previous season. Leafy greens like these are great because with a little water, they just keep growing.
We dug out the dusty seed bank tin box. My parents have a competition going to see who yields the best crop. Mom got her pick of seeds and dad took all the leftovers at the bottom of the box. My mom individually labeled the seeds and wrapped them in damp towel for germination. She took the front yard garden. My dad took his bucket of seeds and set up shop in the backyard. Now we wait for the celery, tomatoes, chili, radish, peas, or pumpkins to sprout. Dad has also been saving the ends of root vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and radish for replanting. I was in charge of finishing the landscaping and drip irrigation system. Judging by social media posting, lots of people are turning towards sustainable home farming during this time. My farming neighbors have been co-oping with other farmers to provide fresh produce to the people while empowering the laborers.
Community farming has been gaining popularity, partially triggered by the last recession and exploded during this pandemic. People don’t have shit to do except to watch plants grow. Good thing it’s fun. The more farmers and farms we have, the more food for the people. Millions are unemployed, feeding everyone is one thing but the ability to grow food will allow us to feed ourselves.
Next we had to guarantee drinking water. Mother began stewing herbal tea using goji, ginseng, honeysuckle flower, and dried dates with tap water. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the ingredients can enhance immunity. The tap water is more than clean enough and not going to run out according to our engineer friend from DWP. The key is to drink hot water. I know some of you swear on cold water, I did too. But hear me out.
This part is sponsored by dad, who’s been a medical research professor his whole life and an amateur nutritionist. He’s excited to share his ideas with online friends. First, this virus is afraid of heat. Hot water washes the upper respiratory tract, and floods potential viruses into the digestive system because they have relatively less chance of surviving the harsh environment of the stomach. Hot water also keeps the throat on alert by increasing blood circulation and stimulating immune response. Water encourages metabolism and keeps the body in a state of alert. Lastly, it can flush out any potential toxins from the body. So drink hot water. Just no green tea at night or you may be up at 3AM watching Community reruns.
Next necessity is sanitary supplies. We are thankful for the friends and families who are sending us masks and supplies. Maybe its because my parents were so supportive when they were going through the same. Other than a few bottles of hand sanitizer, bleach and cleaning alcohol, we did what we always did. My parents are advocates for the disinfecting nature of UV light from the sun. So every other day, as long as it’s sunny, we hang our blankets, sheets and outdoor clothes outside for disinfecting. Another good thing to come out of this, is that we are all more careful with our hygiene. I always wash my hands after I pee now.
The most revealing part of the transition may be adapting to working from home (WFH). I’d already been working mostly from home since the accident so I had practice. It was more difficult for the parents. They are relatively computer savvy because of work necessities. But learning entirely new working methods took some adjustment. I needed to connect them to the place online where their coworkers are. Her first Zoom team meeting featured her yelling for me from the other room with all her coworkers listening. Then I frantically run in with my big fluffy pajamas to open the camera slot so they can see her. I’m pretty sure mom’s been working harder and longer hours since she’s been home. Glued to her phone and laptop 24/7. Her overwhelming sense of responsibility often keeps her up to near midnight responding to late urgent emails.
Being stuck at home can be stressful which could lead to friction at home. Chances are the people you’re quarantined with are the closest to you. We can use this time to work on our conflict resolution and communication skills. Sorry again I lost my temper the other day.
The most heartwarming part of this process has been the togetherness of the neighbors. Our immediate neighbors formed chat groups to maintain communication during social distancing. We contribute what we can. We’ve had citrus fruits and smoked meat from Steve and Lily. Chili from Mo. And many cross fence visits from the neighbors. We’ve stayed busy too. I mentioned before my mom’s flour based product assembly line. I was in charge of the distribution part of her operation. We hope the neighbors like the food. We’ve also been sharing some of delivered groceries with neighbors who can not get their own. Dad is more of the strategist. Once a new package of medical supplies arrive, we split and deliver them to those who need. Mostly among friends and neighbors; Some to medical facilities. I dropped some off to Huntington Hospital. Thanks again for taking care of me.
The elderly are the most vulnerable especially during this time. We must limit their exposure to the environments and ensure they are receiving adequate nutrition and exercise. One of the elderly neighbors had a medical emergency but the ambulance could not take him given the current situation. The responsibility is on all of us to make sure all are comfortable during this time.
A unifying social phenomena is people’s turn to the arts for relief. Thanks to the artists, especially musicians, for helping us pass this time. Without music, I probably would have shaved my head already. The pandemic memes helped make light of the situation too. First, people were angry at this lady for feeding her husband to the tigers. Then Drake came out with a new quarantine dance. Lady Gaga got all her friends to throw an online concert. Andrea Bocelli single handedly blew all of them out of the water. Most recently some medical professionals had to block the trucks of quarantine protesters because the latter don’t understand the concept of the greater good.
Change the Game
Some have been playing this pandemic game for some time now. Some are just starting. All of us will be living as we are for a long time. We need to find a new norm. We see each region responding differently given the resources available. Where ever emerge from this crisis with peace and stable will be the models. This existential scenario forced our hands to transition more abruptly than we had hoped. How we deal with those who’ve been made obsolete will say a lot about this civilization. Think about the service workers. They’re sacrificing their lives for near minimum wage then when the lockdown is lifted, they’ll have been replaced by robot kiosks and delivery drones.
Now that we are forced to forgo our excessive consumption habits, we see humans need surprisingly little to survive. Mainly food and water. These services should be the priority for the governments. A full society is a peaceful society. We are moving in the right direction by providing people with funds needed to live. But Inflation. A better way may be to directly distribute essential goods or provide crisis social services. A promising trend has been the utilization of 3D printing for PPE. It both revitalizes local manufacturing and shifts power from multinational corporations to local producers. The millions of unemployed able bodied people can assist those who are in need. We’ve plenty of problems so plenty to do.
We are fortunate to live in a city and state where our community leaders believe in science and genuinely care about their fellow citizens. Everyday, from their podiums with new partners, we see the disaster relief programs put forth to save the people. I was especially moved by Mayor Garcetti’s call to support the undocumented immigrants. To be able to open one’s heart instead of closing off during a crisis is a sign of a good man. I’m hopeful that LA will emerge more united after this.
Human civilization has been struggling with the environment since before we were humans. From floods, to fires to pandemics, we’ve had to learn to live with the environment. HIV, Influenza, Malaria, Ebola, Bubonic Plague, and the almost eradicated Poliovirus, we will have to learn to live with another virus among us. How we live is up to us.
The economy crashes every decade even when things were normal. That’s insane given the whole of time. We just kept kicking the can down the road. If the economy collapses when people are only consuming what they need, then the economy is inherently unsustainable. It’s morally wrong to have a pumping stock market in an economy that had just eliminated 30 million livelihoods. Although as I’m writing this, the oil market had just collapsed so it’s reflecting that. What do we do now? We could all step on each other to get to the end of the game or we can work together to create an infinite future.
As of now, we are still not sure whether we had caught COVID-19. Our symptoms are gone and antibody tests are still scarce. But I believe we’ve lived through the peak of the pandemic. Next part of the game will start at rebuilding from within a society reborn.
Author: Wei Way (LA POST Journalist/Freelance Writer, USC Alumni)
