Quarantine Diaries of an Indian in South Korea

1st April, 2020 –

“Will you join us for lunch, Ashima?” asked a colleague here in Seoul. Reluctantly, I agreed. “Is it only me who is scared? Am I overthinking this?” These were some thoughts that struck me on our way to a very traditional Korean restaurant.

"Why is the Korean government not implementing a country-wide lockdown?". I asked curiously. You know India is under a complete…”

“We are taking enough precautions”, she interrupts me while passing me a hand sanitizer. “Thank God the government took some serious lessons from the MERS outbreak in 2015.We’ll be fine”, she added.

27th January, 2020 –

I was in Jeju, enjoying the Chinese New Year Holidays, when Covid-19 news started making rounds in the mainstream media. Within days, we had a fancy Corona Dashboard for Korea up and running, displaying the patient numbers and their movements. These access points were color coded with red, orange and green, based on the recency. Everything was under control until Patient 31 was tested positive in Daegu.

As the outbreak in Daegu happened, panic and fear took over me. Calls from family and the extended family started pouring in, suggesting me to come back. Expecting panic buying, friends from around the globe offered to send essential commodities.

After a hard look at the options and contemplating on the decision to go back to India, I decided to stay. I trusted the system here. After all, in the last eighteen months of being in Seoul, the government processes and infrastructure in South Korea has never failed to impress me.

Here is what happened:

1.      There was no panic buying. The convenience stores in my apartment building were fully stocked. Online delivery, of eCommerce giants like Coupang and food delivery apps, was also functioning well.

2.      The government was extremely transparent. We got a notification on our cell-phones, every time there was a positive case reported within our vicinity, detailing the patients’ movements and source of infection. The thought of privacy getting breached did not even strike me once. Instead, I was satisfied that the government is using the data efficiently.

3.      My company took special care for us (expats) and made sure we had everything we needed - from providing masks to bi-lingual CoVid-19 related emails to sharing emergency contact details.

The silver lining during this situation was the Koreans getting accustomed to “Work from Home” culture. In a country where long working hours in the office are appreciated and taking a “Sick Leave” is an alien concept, companies embracing work from home is a significant and a welcoming change.

Life in Seoul is not half as tough as in the other parts of the world. But that does not mean my life has not been impacted.  Like a lot of other foreigners in Seoul, I used to explore the country during the weekends while enjoying some incredible Korean food.

It’s been over two months since I stepped out of my house (except some rare visits to my office).

Though the government has not mandated a country-wide lockdown (surely not in Seoul), I still prefer to be at home. The thought of visiting a healthcare center with my rudimentary Korean scares me to leave my house.

I have taken up to creative journaling on my Instagram in an attempt to be productive and positive. While, I am grateful for being in Korea during these special times, my heart goes out for my countrymen back in India. I desperately hope for us to overcome this situation as soon as possible.

Picture : My journal spread