【Text/Observer Network Columnist Ruoxi】
Study abroad under the epidemic
In September 2020, I was sent by the state to study in Geneva, Switzerland. Although the global COVID-19 pandemic is now in place, the epidemic in Switzerland has improved, with about 300 new COVID-19 cases per day across the country.
For comparison, Switzerland's permanent population in 2020 was 8.67 million, slightly more than the mainland city of Kunming (8.46 million). At that time, the epidemic restrictions were relaxed, and universities reopened their campuses and partially resumed offline teaching. My research institute takes into account the health and epidemic prevention requirements and limits the number of offline classes for each course.
Late autumn weekends in the old town of Geneva. Image from the author
In other words, even if I am already in Geneva, I must follow the rotation requirements and go to the classroom every two weeks to attend classes on site. Although this kind of "semi-remote teaching" has brought great challenges to both teaching and learning, I have also benefited a lot from the classroom when I study abroad for the first time. Like other students, I am also looking forward to maintaining this pace of teaching and even resuming full offline teaching.
However, from mid-to-late October, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, with much of Europe, including Switzerland, beginning to experience a sharp rebound in the epidemic, with thousands of cases increasing daily in Switzerland.
The Chinese Embassy in Switzerland insists on informing the latest epidemic data through the WeChat public account every day, and once again distributes health kits to Chinese students studying in Switzerland through local student federations, which contain medical masks, disinfectant wipes, Lianhua Qing plague capsules and other epidemic prevention materials, and is accompanied by an epidemic prevention manual.
In order to facilitate the collection of supplies for international students, the Geneva Students' Federation has set up outdoor health kit collection points in the main campuses and dormitory areas of the city. It was late autumn, the weather was getting cooler, and the room had begun to heat up. The students of the Student Federation distributed supplies outdoors, and one stop was more than an hour, just so that more students could receive supplies. The warmth and emotion of the moment I got my health kit was unforgettable.
Health kits issued by the Chinese Embassy in Switzerland. Image from the author
As the epidemic intensified, starting in early November 2020, Geneva implemented stricter epidemic prevention measures and entered a "semi-closed state": universities implemented remote teaching; non-essential commercial places (such as bars, restaurants, cinemas, museums, etc.) were closed; and residents were advised not to go out unless necessary. None of us expected that this semi-closed state would continue until March 2021.
After the beginning of spring, the weather warmed up, the new crown vaccine gradually became popular, the epidemic in Switzerland was controlled, and the resumption of work and school was carried out in an orderly manner. The popularity of the new crown vaccine also seems to give people a shot in the arm, and work and life are gradually back on track.
The optimism brought by the vaccine has continued, even if the new variant Ofmicron sweeps through Europe in late 2021 and early 2022, with a daily increase of 30,000 cases in Switzerland, the epidemic prevention policy is still relatively relaxed. As usual, people can go to the mall to buy festive supplies, dine in restaurants, and gather with friends and family. The coldness and loneliness of the semi-closed period from 2020 to 2021 does not seem to be repeated.
Summer dusk in Geneva. At the bottom left is the island of Rousseau, named after Rousseau, who was born in Geneva. Image from the author
When a roommate is infected with COVID-19
During my stay in Switzerland, I and other students studying abroad around me consciously strengthened our protection and maintained the habit of wearing masks, not getting together, and washing hands frequently. But even so, due to the particularity of collective life, we are still invincible in the face of viruses. In November 2021, two of my roommates (French boys and Spanish girls) were diagnosed with COVID-19 at the same time, which also made me see the attitudes of different countries and peoples to the epidemic.
The student dormitory I live in is a seven-bedroom, two-living, kitchen-, bathroom-and-bathroom apartment, each with one bedroom of their own. That is, I shared the kitchen, bathroom and toilet with six other roommates. In Geneva, where the rental market is in short supply, it is not easy to find such a student dormitory. However, the impact of the epidemic has also put collective life in jeopardy.
After the two roommates were diagnosed, they informed the rest of our roommates of the news on the communication software. They are only mild, according to the requirements of Geneva, they do not have to be hospitalized, just stay at home for ten days and wait for the yin. But it also poses a huge challenge for the rest of our roommates.
Home isolation for positive patients, although mandatory, is rarely regulated. Fortunately, we live in a student dormitory, and the dormitory administrator has always kept an empty apartment dedicated to isolation. Under the arrangement of the administrator, the two roommates moved to the upstairs isolation apartment the day after the diagnosis.
As close contacts, I went to the nucleic acid test as soon as I learned that my roommate was diagnosed, and then conducted a re-examination five days later. Fortunately, all five of us have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and usually pay attention to protection, so we are not infected. We were all relieved to know that the nucleic acid result was negative.
After the two confirmed roommates moved to the isolation apartment, I and other roommates disinfected the common areas wearing masks. The housemates were diagnosed with dishes left in the sink and did not have time to wash, and we carefully washed and boiled them for disinfection.
Two confirmed roommates(one of whom was even a medical graduate) were staunch anti-vaccines, believing that vaccines were "unnatural" and that they were young and strong, even if infected, it was not a big problem. Before the diagnosis, they and other roommates from Italy, Germany and Switzerland discussed vaccines and attacked vaccine-related policies.
Although we are not good at saying anything in person, there are always some worries and unhappiness - after all, living under the eaves of the same roof, looking up and not looking down, the risk of group infection is not small. Now that fears are happening, the differences in attitudes are even more pronounced.
After confirming that my roommate had moved to an isolation apartment and I received my nucleic acid negative results, my hanging heart was hard to let go. But fate always loves to joke. While I was wearing a mask and cutting vegetables alone in the kitchen preparing lunch, pondering the date of the next nucleic acid test, the confirmed French roommate actually returned to the dormitory, greeted me and walked into my kitchen, without even asking me if I could let him in. I was stunned.
This is only the third day of his diagnosis, and it is reasonable to say that the virus should be very infectious. But without any prior notice, he left the quarantine area and returned to the public dormitory wearing only a surgical mask, and did not maintain the proper epidemic prevention distance from me. Just the night before, I and my roommate had been worried about cleaning up all the common areas, but he couldn't even comply with the basic epidemic prevention regulations.
The moment I saw him enter the kitchen, I was surprised, shocked, and then angry. I hurried back to my room to avoid any more direct contact with him. I reviewed the Geneva government's quarantine policy for COVID-19 patients again, which included the requirement to maintain a 1.5-metre distance from the epidemic, disinfect yourself after using public spaces and items, and leave the isolation room only when necessary.
I suspect that the dorm administrator did not explain the quarantine requirements to the two confirmed roommates after arranging for them to move to the quarantine area, or that they deliberately ignored these regulations and were unwilling to implement them.
At this time, the other non-diagnosed roommates were not at home, and I realized that to ensure that the two confirmed roommates complied with the quarantine regulations, it was not enough to have my supervision. One of my roommates is an Italian girl who is cautious about the epidemic.
After two roommates were diagnosed, she was as nervous as I was. I think it is probably because Italy is the first country in Europe to be affected by the epidemic, and this Italian girl has also worked as an exchange student in France during the epidemic and lived in a collective dormitory, and as a foreigner, she has seen France in the whirlpool of the epidemic.
The Spanish roommate also went straight into our living room without greeting on the night of the diagnosis, completely ignoring the other undiagnosed roommates in the living room. This upset the Italian girls, but given that they would move to the quarantine area, they were not alerted.
Immediately after leaving the kitchen, I messaged the Italian girl about the Situation of the French Roommate leaving the quarantine area and returning to the public kitchen, and she was also very shocked. So we rushed to explain to the two confirmed roommates in the dormitory group that we could help them pick up things and send them to the quarantine area, but please respect our epidemic prevention efforts, abide by the quarantine requirements, and try not to go out.
Other roommates agreed with our proposal after learning about the situation. The two confirmed roommates finally agreed to abide by the epidemic prevention regulations and did not return to the public dormitory until the end of the isolation. It wasn't until their COVID-19 testing turned negative and isolation ended that the crisis was finally lifted.
At the end of 2021, the first snow in Geneva outside the dormitory window. Image from the author
After this storm, I moved. I heard that my Spanish roommate later found a job in the hospital doing COVID-19 nucleic acid testing and vaccinations, and I think it was really dark humor.
After learning that my roommate was diagnosed, the Italian girl once lamented to me: "Home should have been the safest place, but now it has become the most dangerous place." "Being in a foreign country, taking care of yourself is also responsible for the country and the family.
But when the connection between people becomes a conduit for the virus to be infected, when individuals' epidemic prevention efforts cannot fully protect themselves from infection, when proponents and opponents of vaccines argue endlessly, how fragile all of our sense of security based on normal life is.
Thinking in "International Geneva"
The pandemic has not only redefined everyday life, but has also continued to reshape people's perception of the world. Geneva is home to the headquarters of many international organizations (including the World Health Organization) and non-governmental organizations, hence the name "Geneva International".
Attention to interdisciplinary issues such as global health, environmental protection, economic development, and population mobility is part of the character of the city of Geneva and characteristic of the international development major I studied.
Posters on display in the Museum of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Geneva. Image from the author
In schools, teachers and classmates often discuss the epidemic. One of the things that impressed me the most was a specialty course in global health, where the professor was a medical professional.
During the epidemic, in addition to teaching and research, he will regularly sit in the Affiliated Hospital of the University of Geneva, often wearing a white coat, and taking classes remotely with us in between shifts.
In his class, when it came to the reflections brought about by the new crown, the students opened the conversation box. A classmate pointed out that the NEW CROWN vaccine has been available in a very short period of time, but many neglected tropical diseases (referring to infectious diseases that are mainly prevalent in poor areas, especially in the hot and humid climate of tropical areas) have not been effectively diagnosed and treated.
This is because the COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on the whole world, which has led to vaccine-related scientific research investment cooperation in a short period of time. In contrast, neglected tropical diseases occur in poor countries, among the poorest people, and are extremely rampant but little known.
I think that in the era of globalization, it is too easy for infectious diseases to cross borders. We must take global health as a whole and guard against microaggressions.
I mentioned in class that the personal information policies of different countries for epidemic prevention purposes vary greatly. The teacher sitting in the hospital duty room nodded, took out his mobile phone and shook it at the camera, saying, "That's right." I downloaded SwordsCovid (the official app for tracking and alerting covid-19) on my phone, but even though I worked in the hospital, there were too many COVID-19 patients in the hospital to have enough beds, and the software never alerted me to the COVID-19 patients around me – think about how many people got COVID-19 but didn't download the APP or upload location information. "How to deal with the boundaries between the public and private spheres is also an age-old problem.
After the beginning of spring, the park is full of people basking in the sun. Image from the author
The pandemic has also made us rethink the relationship between man and nature. Although the source of the new crown virus is still unclear, wildlife conservation is receiving increasing attention. The mainland has implemented a strict ban on wildlife, and the new wildlife protection law is also being revised, and more and more people are aware of the close connection between ecological health and human health, and no longer consume wild animals and their products. This is a valuable lesson that the epidemic has brought to us.
Global warming, destruction of biodiversity, epidemics of infectious diseases, social polarization... Will the epidemic be a flashpoint or a turning point for these many contradictions?
This year's Lunar New Year, I spent overseas with my friends again. Unlike last year's semi-closed state of loneliness, this year we are more confident and hopeful. I sincerely hope that in the new year, the impact of the epidemic will gradually fade, society will return to normal order, and people will have greater determination to face the many challenges of the ecological environment and human society.
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