My Fight Against the Epidemic | Record of Staying at Home During the Epidemic in the First Month of the Gengzi Year of the Rat (Part 1)

Stay Safe at Home, Threading Needles and Donating Love: Busy Series of Anti-Epidemic Reports

— Record of Staying Home in the First Month of the Gengzi Year of the Rat (1)

On January 23, 2020, the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Wuhan was "locked down." All buses, subways, and ferries were suspended, and private cars were not allowed on the road without approval. I asked my wife to accompany me to walk to the company and work for a day. At noon, I ate instant noodles in the office to satisfy my hunger, and walked home at six in the evening. From then on, the home quarantine began.

My wife and I live alone in Meilin Qingcheng on Yangyuan South Road, Xudong. Following government requirements and repeated instructions from our children, we have stayed home without going out once from the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month (January 24) until now to prevent cross-infection. During this period, the property manager and Dr. Liu from Wuchang Hospital, who lives in the same building, helped deliver fruits, vegetables, and eggs to us three times. Each time, volunteers placed the food and vegetables at our door, and after half an hour, we opened the door to take them in. After the Lantern Festival, we started piling up garbage on the terrace.

During home quarantine, I participated in or initiated several donation drives, successfully coordinating a few donation activities. Starting February 7, I organized company employees to post our certified clients' "Anti-Epidemic Reports" on the company's "United Intelligence Wuhan Certification" WeChat public account. We published a total of 45 continuous reports and 5 special articles covering over 40 units from Wuhan, Yichang, Shiyan, Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Jingmen, Huangshi, Huanggang, Xianning, Enshi, Tianmen, Qichun, Xiaogan, and other places, with daily updates ongoing.

On the afternoon of January 22, my company's excellent auditor Tan Ruoming's apprentice told me on WeChat, "I heard Tan has contracted pneumonia and is not doing well these past two days," "probably in the ICU." I called Tan several times but no one answered. On January 26, the second day of the lunar new year, the bad news came: Tan passed away! Tan's husband told me the body was taken by the funeral home for cremation, and family members were not allowed to attend the farewell, waiting for notification to collect the ashes. Even wreaths could not be sent. I transferred 900 yuan to Tan's husband via WeChat as a condolence. Manager Chen Cuilan of Shishou Huali Dye also entrusted me to send 300 yuan in mourning money. I posted the news of Tan's unfortunate death in the company QQ and WeChat groups, and everyone expressed their condolences. Tan Ruoming's father, mother, and sister are all our bridge-playing friends. Such sadness brings tears uncontrollably...

On January 25, the Qichun Chamber of Commerce in Wuhan mobilized members to donate to the hometown's anti-epidemic efforts. Staying home for the New Year, unable to go out. I don't use Alipay and only had over 2,000 yuan in WeChat. But as the Chamber's secretary, I had to lead by example. Without hesitation, I immediately donated 1,000 yuan.

On January 26, a reporter from the Yangtze Daily was live streaming on the streets of Wuhan and saw the bustling market completely empty. Behind the camera, he choked up several times, repeatedly saying, "My Wuhan will definitely get better!" This Weibo post by reporter Zhan Song, according to CCTV news, has over 200 million views and resonated with Chinese people worldwide. Zhan Song is my daughter's colleague; he helped organize her wedding in 2005 and also served as photographer and videographer. Zhan Song's wife works in the emergency room of Tongji Hospital and has been overworked during the epidemic, experiencing many hardships...

On the same day, January 26, the wife of our company's Director L was also diagnosed with COVID-19. He was lucky to be admitted to the hospital in time for treatment.

On January 27, the third day of the lunar new year, our company's financial director Mr. X developed a cough and fever and was classified as a suspected case at the hospital. There was no confirmed effective medicine, so no medication was prescribed, and no hospital bed was available for treatment. He could only isolate at home. Our family members with medical backgrounds (nephew and niece-in-law) tried various ways using steroids to reduce Mr. X's fever, which fluctuated unpredictably, making us anxious and uneasy...

Also on January 27, a friend sent me a short video filmed by Teacher Zou Xia (phonetic) from Dayan Academy in Chuzhou, Zhejiang. It showed breathing exercises, guiding movements, and fitness methods including trembling exercises, spinning exercises, patting exercises, and the "Si" sound technique. I sent the video to relatives and friends with a self-composed rhyme: Stay home for the New Year, no visiting around. Take some time, watch the video: Simple and easy, strengthen lungs and body. Calm and peaceful, all goes well. Prevent infection, drive away the plague. When spring blooms, celebrate peace! On January 30, Mrs. Cheng, wife of former Vice Chairman Hu Yongji of the Hubei Provincial CPPCC, sent me a short video compiled by Niu Guowei, director of the Oxygen Center at Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing. I also forwarded it to relatives and friends to encourage exercise and health during home quarantine.

On January 28, the fourth day of the lunar new year, my relative's brother-in-law Mr. X also started having a fever. He is an amateur painter who went alone to sketch by the Yangtze River on New Year's Eve, possibly catching a chill. He has not left home since New Year's Eve and has fever with cough. No hospital would admit him, so his son and daughter-in-law (medical doctor) used steroids to reduce his fever...

My colleague at Wugang Transportation Company and fellow Qichun native, Master Zhu's only son in his thirties, was originally scheduled to hold his wedding on January 28, the fourth day of the lunar new year, at the Wanda Ruihua Hotel in Wuhan. After graduating from university, Xiao Zhu has worked at Huawei in Shenzhen as a technical backbone and is a pride of our Wugang Qichun hometown. Master Zhu sent me an exquisitely made electronic invitation card from his son nearly two months in advance on December 10. On January 11, I decided to spend the New Year with my wife on Hainan Island, booking round-trip tickets, hotel, and itinerary, but 20 hours before departure, I received a call from Hainan asking us to cancel the trip. I sent Master Zhu a congratulatory gift of 1,000 yuan in advance since I could not attend the wedding. Xiao Zhu's wedding was postponed. We must not miss this wedding.

On January 29, the fifth day of the lunar new year, my daughter said that the parents of her good classmates from middle and high school, who are also neighbors living in Meilin Qingcheng, are the director and his wife of the Wugang Party Committee Propaganda Department in charge of the "Wugang Political Work" monthly magazine (which has been repeatedly awarded as a national excellent journal). Both husband and wife were diagnosed with COVID-19. Since the first day of the lunar new year, Director Liu and his wife have been walking for nearly an hour every morning at six o'clock (no buses, taxis, and private cars not allowed) to queue for injections at Wuchang Hospital. The hospital was overcrowded, and it was difficult to get in during peak hours. After injections, the couple helped each other walk home, usually arriving around five or six in the evening. Director Liu's daughter has been crying and exhausted while talking to my daughter on the phone. This family is truly overwhelmed! There is no way to be hospitalized as all hospitals in Wuhan are full. Wuchang Hospital is the Iron Fourth Hospital, formerly called Tie Lu Hospital. My home is in Meilin Qingcheng Community, which has about three thousand households. When it was first opened, it was the best community near the first ring road of Wuhan. The Iron Fourth Hospital purchased more than 400 housing units in bulk, so most neighbors go to this hospital for medical treatment nearby. Many medical staff at Wuchang Hospital were also infected, including Director Liu Zhiming, 51 years old, who unfortunately passed away on February 18...