Dispatches from Quarantine:
Young People on Covid-19

3.16-3.18

The alarm went off again in the morning like it always did. I tried to get up from my warm and cozy bed, but my laziness pulled me back into it again. I turned on my phone and a notification popped up. I clicked on it to check what was going on. The words in the email gave me a huge shock. I jumped out of my bed— spring break was extended. I called my parents who were back in China right away to make a plan for my spring break. After my dad picked up the call, he immediately told me that he had already bought the plane ticket for me. I was extremely glad that I could go back to my home soon. I was extremely excited to go back to my home, but I was also aware of the upcoming challenges at the same time.

I put on my N95 mask, gloves, goggles and a raincoat over my clothes. With a backpack stuffed with hand sanitizer, snacks, face masks and wipes, I took off for home at 5:00 in the morning on March 16th. The sky was pitch black. I couldn’t even see the road without a flashlight. After a four- and half-hour drive, I finally arrived at the JFK airport. Standing alone in front of the destination, I knew this trip was going to be special.

After checking in and going through a security check, I could finally find a quiet corner to eat something. I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since dinner the night before. The feeling I had eating that bread was like a running race—I rushed to finish it. I was too afraid of the blind virus.

The first hour I was on the plane, the airline stewardess gave us some food and drinks packed in a plastic bag. She told us not to eat at the same time as our neighbor and that it was the only meal that they would serve on this flight. Thinking of the procedure and the risk that I needed to take for eating that food, I gave up. I decided to sleep as much as possible since sleeping is one of the best ways to release stress and hunger for me. I slept for ten hours throughout the flight and ate only a few Oreo cookies that I packed previously in my clean sealing bag.

The flight arrived at Fujian, China after fourteen hours. We were brought to a special place for people coming back from foreign countries. The staff took our temperature, and asked us about our health condition and the places we’ve been staying for the past days. Then, the most important step, a sample from my throat was taken to do the nucleic acid testing, which would tell us if we had the COVID-19 virus or not. Then, we went through customs and got on to a bus, which would bring us to our temporary quarantine hotel.

3.18-3.19

I entered into the gate of the hotel. There were two hotel staff with professional protection suits. They gave us our room cards individually and sold us a plastic bag with dinner in it. The plastic bag was not a normal bag anymore for me at that time. It carried my hope and happiness. I had barely eaten anything in the past 24 hours. I was starved. Although there were just a package of instant noodle, an egg, and a tiny box of milk, I felt like I was the happiest person in the world when I had that dinner. It was the most memorable dinner for me.

The next morning, I was woken up by a call from a hotel staff. I had tested negative. I felt like a heavy boulder fell from my heart. She asked me to pack up my stuff and go to the airport with the assigned bus in twenty minutes. When we arrived at the airport, a staff person came and took me to check in separately with other passengers and brought me to a special gate for a security check. After that, I was brought to a special place next to the departure gate for people who came back from foreign countries. I was waiting there for two hours and the staff in the airport finally led us on to the plane. Our seats were assigned at the back row of the plane. I was the only person on my row. I fell asleep immediately after I sat down. The next time I woke up, we had arrived at my home city, Xi’an. The flight attendant told the three of us who stayed at foreign countries to get off before everyone left. As I walked through the aisle, I felt people were staring at me. The whole journey was a special experience for me.

After all the procedures, I was brought on to an ambulance!!! I was really excited when I knew that the ambulance was going to bring us to the quarantine hotel. I have never sat on an ambulance. The inside of it was less spacious than I thought, but the seat was really comfortable. Although it was a fun experience, I hope I will never sit on it again.

When I arrived at my quarantine hotel, it was almost midnight. I got off the ambulance and noticed two familiar people standing meters away from me with masks. I recognized them immediately. My mom and my dad came to see me! All the tiredness that I felt disappeared at that moment. Unfortunately, I needed to keep my distance from them. We didn’t have a chance to talk to each other, but I finally realized that I’m back home. However, that also meant my fourteen-day-quarantine started.

3.19-4.1

From the first second I stepped into the hotel room I was exhilarated by the room to which I was assigned. I imagined my quarantine hotel thousands of times on my way back to China, but the room was much better than my imagination. I walked into the room and took off the clothes that I was wearing and put them into a huge plastic bag and sealed it, which can kill the virus that may be caught by my clothes. Then, I took a shower and cleaned myself immediately. I changed into the clothes that my mom sent to my room and looked around the room. Suddenly, I caught sight of a familiar bag. I opened the bag and saw some food in it!! I opened the lunch boxes and saw a bunch of food that I was missing so badly back in the United States. I was about to cry when I ate the noodles. I knew it was made by my grandmother—I have been eating food made by her for fourteen years. When I finished all my food, it was 2:00 am. I was exhausted and went to bed.

Over the next fourteen days, I did the same things every day. Every morning, I was always woken up by the call from the hotel staff. They required us to take our body temperature twice a day. Also, I needed to drink traditional Chinese medicine twice a day since there was one case on my plane back to China. It wasn’t tasty. I walked around in the room and looked out through the window every day. I could see people walking on the street and doing exercises outside with their masks. There have been no new cases in my city since two weeks ago. I could see that people were getting back on the right track for their lives. However, I could not forget how serious it was months ago, when I was still in the United States.

I still clearly remember when the coronavirus outbreak happened in China, I checked the data on the number of cases every morning after I woke up. I was worried about my family and friends back in China. The coronavirus became the topic that we discussed on the dinner table. I worried about my family every day, but what I could do was only take care of myself and watch people experiencing all those tragedies. The whole world is having a hard time this year. However, in human history, when there was a world crisis, it always brought us together to unite as a whole and fight against the crisis. I didn’t have a chance to prove that before the virus’s outbreak, but I strongly feel that now. People from different countries are fighting against our enemy together.

We shouldn’t blame or compare each other at this time. If we are facing this together as a group, I believe our enemy will capitulate soon.

4.2- 4.8

It was the last day of my hotel quarantine life. At 7:00 pm, the hotel staff called me and told me that I could bring my stuff downstairs to check out. When I was in the elevator alone, I started thinking about my life in the “real world” and imagined myself going to different restaurants and malls. In the past month, the only public place I have been to was the airport. Before I left the hotel, the staff gave me a paper which proved that I had been quarantined for fourteen days without any symptoms. The second I took the paper, it was not a plain paper anymore; it meant freedom. My parents were waiting in front of the hotel’s gate. After fourteen days, I was finally able to hug them.

On our way back home, I asked my mom if I could go to some restaurants and hang out with my friends, my mom and dad started laughing at me. They said that I could only go out after a code in my WeChat turns green, which usually takes two or three days. Also, they told me it is better to stay at home if it’s not necessary to go out. I really agree with them. Staying at home can not only help myself, it’s also helpful for people around us and everyone else.

It had been four months since I left my home. I could not even wait to be in my sweet home but when I was trying to step in the door, my dad stopped me and let me take off my shoes outside the door. After I finally went into my house, I found there was a new closet next to the door. My dad told me to hang my clothes that I was wearing in the closet and change to the clean clothes they prepared for me. Then, I washed my hands for two minutes and cleaned all my stuff with ethanol. When I felt like I could take a rest on the couch and eat something, my mom asked me to take a shower immediately. Finally, after sterilizing myself for an hour, I had earned the right to sit on the couch. It was the most sophisticated process I have ever taken to sit on that familiar couch. However, it was necessary for every one of us to clean ourselves every time after going out during this special period of time. I felt extraordinary secure after an hour of cleaning.