From SARS to COVID-19: A personal journey

While Tianjin’s number of confirmed cases rose gradually eventually statistics for it and Beijing showed stabilizing and then falling. Tianjin, a city of 15 million people, had 144 confirmed cases with only three fatalities. We decided to return home.

At the gate to our community, temperature checks followed by mandatory 14 days quarantine mostly within our apartment. An opportunity to be with the family, food and essential supplies, ordered online were delivered for pick-up at the gate. With most people living within gated communities this simplified monitoring and effectiveness of quarantine. Local area and residential management committees were delegated the initial task of implementation. I noticed understanding, compliance and acceptance of such measures. Now with a green “OK” code on my smartphone I can go out as normal although I continue working from home rather than going to cafes as I was doing previously. Acquiring the code allows people return to work.

High-tech played an important role with travel. A virus carrier showing symptoms, it was relatively straight for those within their vicinity to be recognized through data analysis. Train, plane seats, hotel reservations all include IDs at booking. People would be contacted, tested, they and their immediate associates quarantined. This system of check, identify, test, quarantine worked very effectively.