Bengaluru to Beijing During Pandemic|一位复工回北京的印度人的经历告诉你中国是如何做到的！

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As per new policy being implemented from midnight (Monday ,March 16), Anyone arriving to Beijing from abroad will be transferred directly to a central quarantine facility for 14 days for observation, a city government official said on Sunday. It comes as the majority of new coronavirus cases being reported in China have come from people arriving from abroad, rather than from domestic transmission. All expenses during the period will be borne by those in quarantine. 

Screenshot Source: http://www.beijing.gov.cn/ywdt/gzdt/t1622316.htm

根据3月16日星期一凌晨实施的新政策。一位市政府官员周日说，任何从国外到达北京的人将被直接转移到中央检疫机构进行14天观察。恰逢中国报道的大多数新的冠状病毒病例来自国外而不是国内传播。该期间的所有费用将由检疫人员承担。

As life in China is slowly going back to normal, Many foreigners including Indians are gradually coming back to China after Chinese new year holidays to resume back their work. This year although coming back after extended chinese new year holidays is very different experience due to unfortunate spread of coronavirus . Here is a detailed account of an Indian who recently fly back to Beijing from India. This was originally published in www.thenewsminute.com on 14th March. 

随着中国生活逐渐恢复正常，农历新年假期后，包括印度人在内的许多外国人正逐渐回到中国，恢复工作。由于冠状病毒的传播，今年虽然延长了农历新年假期，但经历却截然不同。这是最近从印度飞回北京的印度人的详细资料。它最初于3月14日发布在www.thenewsminute.com上。

Source: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/bengaluru-beijing-detailed-account-indian-self-quarantine-china-120215?amp=&from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0

by Shilpashree Jagannathan

(This is his account as told to Shilpashree Jagannathan)

As Bengaluru (India) shuts down malls, schools and cinemas, here is an account of Madan* who travelled to Beijing a couple of days ago. Madan had been in Beijing for over six months when he left to meet his family in Bengaluru just before the Chinese New Year vacations on January 16. This was before China began shutting down its cities over the COVID-19 epidemic. He cancelled his return on January 30, and stayed in India for almost two months. While he worked from home in Bengaluru all the while, he headed back to work in Beijing a couple of days ago. 

当班加罗尔（印度）关闭商场，学校和电影院时，这里是马丹的帐户，他几天前去过北京。1月16日春节假期之前，马丹离开北京在班加罗尔与家人见面时，他已经在北京待了六个月以上。那时，中国因COVID-19疫情开始关闭城市。他于1月30日取消返回，并在印度停留了近两个月。他一直在班加罗尔的家中工作，直到几天前他又回到了北京。

Representative Image: People in protective gear leave Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing, China.(Getty)

Returning to Beijing after two months since I left the city for the Chinese New Year Vacation is an experience in itself. China seems to have contained the Coronavirus , now known as COVID - 19, which has been declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. The only COVID-19 positives in larger Chinese cities like Beijing are people returning from other countries. Hubei province, the place where it all began, has gone down to single digits. How did they do it?

自从我度过春节假期两个月后返回北京，本身就是一种体验。中国也经历冠状病毒，现在称为COVID-19，世界卫生组织已宣布该病毒为全球大流行病。在像北京这样的中国大城市中，唯一COVID-19阳性的人是来自其他国家的人。而始于湖北的地方已经稳定。中国人是如何做到的呢？

Representative Image: Passengers wearing face masks and raincoats walk through a nearly empty departure hall at Beijing Capital International Airport.   ( Reuters)

Some say it is because they are not a democracy and hence it is easy to do it. It is not true. In a situation when you are staring at a serious illness or death, it's the fear of falling ill that makes people toe the line and be careful. It is not just the government. The government has laid out rules to people and it is a chain of command followed by every person in the society. People here now know it's not “just a flu”. They have been indoors for weeks at a stretch during the peak, as they self-quarantined. I have used this word so many times in the past few weeks that my phone predicts that I would type only “quarantine” after “self” and nothing else.

有人说这是因为他们不是民主国家，因此很容易做到。这不是真的。在您注视着严重的疾病或死亡的情况下，生病的恐惧使人们不得不守规则。不只是政府。政府已经为人民制定了规则，这是社会上每个人都遵循的指挥链。现在，这里的人们知道这不只是“流感”。在高峰期，他们已经在室内宅了几个星期，因为它们是自我隔离的。在过去的几周中，我已经多次使用过这个词，以至于我的手机预测我只要在“自我”之后键入“隔离”，而没有其他输入。

Representative Image: Xinhua

Since the new cases have come down, my office wanted me to head back as they felt it is safe to return. With a lot of apprehensions and mind battles, I decided to come back. The anticipation of the journey and reading obsessively about how to try and stay safe during it helped in preparing myself well. I carried and wore my mask for almost 12 hours of the journey, kept sanitising my hands every time I wanted to eat or touch my face, or even my water bottle.

既然新病例减少了，我的办公室要我复工，因为他们认为可以安全返回单位了。带着很多的担忧和思想斗争，我决定回来。在旅途中将近12个小时，我都戴着口罩并戴上了眼罩，每次想吃东西，都会摸脸消毒，甚至喝水时，都要对手进行消毒。

Bengaluru to Beijing:

班加罗尔到北京：

The immigration at Bengaluru airport in India was an interesting experience. Compared to all my previous international flights, where I was usually met by slow-moving, disinterested officers who threw tricky questions like is Venice the capital of Austria, the immigration officer, who attended to me was chatty.

在印度班加罗尔机场是一次有趣的经历。与我以前的所有国际航班相比，在这里我经常遇到那些节奏缓慢的官员，例如奥地利首都威尼斯，移民官员，都陪我聊天。

We discussed COVID-19, and he went on for about 10 minutes about how governments are taking steps. He tried to discourage me from going. I suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie from an immigration officer, the last person I would expect it from. I had to explain that it was a majboori (Hindi word for compulsion) and added the usual saying, “Paapi pet ka sawaal hai,” (It is the question of my livelihood). He also said that this could be a one way ticket, since coming back from China isn't going to be easy anytime soon. But I was not planning to come back anytime soon, so I said thanks and moved on. However, this sent me on a trip of hopelessness, as my family is back home in Bengaluru.

我们讨论了COVID-19，他就政府如何采取步骤进行了大约10分钟的讨论。他试图阻止我前进。我突然感觉到官员是我最希望得到的人的友情。我必须解释说这是一个majboori（印地语中的“强迫”一词），并加上一句俗语：“ Paapi pet ka sawaal hai”（这是我的生计问题）。他还说，这可能是单程票，因为从中国回来很难很快。但是我不打算很快回来，所以我说了声谢谢并继续前进。但是，这使我感觉是踏上了绝望的旅程，因为我的家人都在班加罗尔。

The airports and the flights were so empty that I felt happy with this situation. Every passenger had a whole row to themselves unless they were traveling with someone. I could get any seat I wanted, I even had the luxury of requesting the executive at the counter to keep the seats beside me empty. All these demands were honoured without a second thought. The journey was comfortable physically but mentally I was uneasy.

机场和航班都空无一人，令我对这种情况感到满意。除非他们和某人一起旅行，否则每个乘客都间都会空出整整一行。我可以得到想要的任何座位，甚至可以要求柜台的主管将我旁边的座位空着。所有这些要求都得到了满足。旅途身体上很舒适，但精神上我却很不安。

I kept reminding myself to stay safe. Sneezing a bit too much or coughing drew dirty stares, even I did it to an old couple and got away from them. Like a popular meme says, earlier I used to sneeze to cover my fart, now I fart to cover the sound of the sneeze. I emptied half a bottle of one of the most sought after commodities: sanitiser.

我一直提醒自己要保持清醒。太多的打喷嚏或咳嗽引异样的凝视，我对一对老夫妻也有这样担忧，并远离了他们。就像一个流行的模因说的那样，我以前曾经打喷嚏掩盖我的屁，现在我曾经放屁掩盖打喷嚏的声音。我倒空了半瓶最受追捧的商品之一：免洗消毒液。

Representative Image: Global Times

The landing:

飞行降落：

Upon arrival in Beijing, everything was planned well. The high risk countries were sent to a separate set of gates and they had heavy screening, and people from other countries including India were in a different part of the terminal.

到达北京后，一切都计划好了。高风险国家被送往另一套闸门，并且进行了严格的检查，来自其他国家（包括印度）的人员则在航站楼的另一部分。

Representative Image: Staff getting information from travellers at Beijing Capital International Airport, on March 14, 2020.ST PHOTO: TAN DAWN WEI

I traveled to Beijing on multiple occasions in the last four years and have never seen the airport so empty. It used to be one of those airports I dreaded going to because of the crowd. This time it was barely 30% of what I had seen earlier. Everyone wore masks, people in white fully covered suits / hazmat suits were walking around. They had heat sensing cameras at three checkpoints from the time we disembarked the plane to the exit. I had to fill out forms declaring my well-being as well as the countries I'd visited. This had to be filled and submitted to a person at the airport. Everything at the airport was digital. It was stressful for me to use the fingerprint scanner as many people would have used it. As soon as my immigration was done, I sanitised my hands, passport and my bag.

Representative Image: Global Times

在过去的四年中，我多次去过北京，但从未见过如此空旷的机场。曾经是我因为人群挤迫而害怕去的那些机场之一。这次仅是我之前所见的30％。每个人都戴着口罩，穿着白色全罩西服/危险品西服的人们走来走去。从我们登机到出口，他们在三个检查站安装了热敏摄像头。我必须填写表格，声明我的健康状况以及所访问的国家。必须将其填写并提交给机场的人员。机场的一切都是数字化的。像许多人会使用指纹扫描仪一样，这对我来说压力很大。一完成，我就洗手，包括擦拭护照和行李。

Representative Image: Global Times

I got into a Didi (app based taxi service in China), the car was sealed with a plastic sheet so that the driver or passenger don't infect each other. The sheet was velcroed to the beams of the car so there was no way anything could pass. I reached my building sooner than usual since the traffic was 50% of the normal levels.

我进入了滴滴（中国的基于应用程序的出租车服务），汽车用塑料布密封，以免驾驶员或乘客互相感染，塑料被粘在汽车的横梁上，所以没有任何东西可以通过。因为交通量是正常水平的50％，不堵车，所以我比平时更早到达建筑物。

Representative Image: Twitter

Entering the fortified apartment

进入强化公寓

The reality hit me harder when I got off the cab. My building has three gates to enter, and I usually take the east gate as it is closest to my apartment. The gate was locked and had a barbed wire on it. A few meters between the gate and the road was an aluminum barricade with a room on one side. Basically it meant I could not enter the building from there and there was only one gate to get in. There was a huge shelf outside the gate, where food parcels and packages from purchases were to be kept. Unlike the delivery guy giving it to your door during normal times, people who had cleared the “14 day self-quarantine” had to go down show their clearance pass and then take the package themselves. Since I had two large suitcases to lug around for 500 metres from the gate to my apartment, I had to ask my Chinese colleague on call to help me with the situation, as my Mandarin is very functional.

下车时，现实给我的打击更大。我的小区有三个门可以进入，我通常走东门，因为它离我的公寓最近。大门被锁了，上面有带刺的铁丝网。在大门和马路之间几米处是铝制的路障，一侧有一个房间。基本上，这意味着我无法从那里进入小区，只有一个大门可以进入。大门外面有一个巨大的架子，用于存放外卖的食品包裹和快递包裹。送货员不得进去小区，住户已通过“ 14天自助隔离”的人下楼还必须出示通行证，然后自己拿走包裹。由于我有两个大行李箱要从门口拖到公寓500米处，因此我不得不给我的中国同事打电话帮助我和物业沟通。

After a lot of discussions, she convinced one of the society management people to help me with the luggage. As we went to the next gate, I realised how serious the Chinese were in containing this spread. This gate also had a person in a white suit, who was pretty unhappy about a foreigner coming in with baggage. He kept showing his displeasure to the society person as he helped me in. As I walked to my apartment, I could see people pausing and giving way to a foreigner.

这时候同事普通话派上了大用处，经过了大量讨论，她说服一位小区管理人员帮我提行李。当我们进入下一扇门时，我意识到中国人对遏制这种病毒传播的重视程度。这扇大门上还有一个穿着白色防护服的人，他对外国人带着行李进来感到非常严谨。当我走进我的公寓时，我看到有路人看到我这样提着大行李的外国人主动保持距离。

I spent almost 45 minutes filling out forms which were translated by my colleague on the phone, and declaring that I am not from a “blacklisted country” and that I would serve the 14-day self-quarantine. I had to sign many papers and it was tedious.

我花了将近45分钟的时间填写了我的同事在电话中翻译过的表格，并宣布我不是来自“黑名单国家”，而且我将进行为期14天的自我隔离。我不得不签署许多文件，这很乏味。

Representative Image: Toothpicks have been left next to the buttons on lifts in Tehran to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus CREDIT: AFP

Before I got into the lift, there were many more papers with instructions, written in Mandarin. There was a cup full of toothpicks besides the buttons in the elevator. There was also a sponge stuck to the elevator wall where people could stick used toothpicks after they pressed the button.

在我乘电梯之前，还有很多用普通话写的带有说明的论文。除了电梯中的按钮以外，还有一个装满牙签的杯子。电梯的墙壁上还粘着一块海绵，人们在按下按钮后可以将用过的牙签粘住。

Home at last

终于到家了

Getting into my apartment was a relief. I sat down, took a deep breath and sanitised my phones, passport and suitcase handles. I have to now stay in this apartment for 14 days, 24/7. The only way I can order food or groceries during the quarantine phase is by letting my colleague know. She asks the society management to deliver it to my door. When the delivery arrives, there is a knock on the door and the delivery person stays three feet away, and shows me the QR code to make the payment.

进入我的公寓是一种解脱。我坐下，深吸了一口气，消毒了手机，护照和行李箱手柄。我现在必须在这间公寓呆14天。在隔离阶段，我可以订购食物或杂货的唯一方法是让我的同事知道。她要求物业管理将其交付给我。交货到达时，门上有敲门声，交货人在三英尺外，并向我显示二维码以进行付款。

There is a notice put up on my door in Mandarin, indicating that an outsider has self-quarantined here. So, there is a lady who sprays disinfectant thrice a day at the common area. I am not allowed to step out of my apartment. I am supposed to record my temperature every day on an app that is developed by the Chinese government to monitor people under self-quarantine. I check my temperature three times a day and write it down in a chart every day. This chart is for the society. Besides me checking my temperature, the society management sends their representative to check my temperature every day at noon. This treatment is not because I'm a foreigner, it is a blanket rule for anyone coming into Beijing, including locals who went out of the state or country.

我的门上贴着一条告示，表明里面有人在自我隔离。因此，有一个女士每天在公共区域三次喷洒消毒剂。我不允许走出我的公寓。我应该每天在由中国政府开发的用于监控自我检疫人员的应用程序中记录自己的体温。每天检查我的体温3次，然后每天将其记录在图表中。该图表适用于小区。除了我检查温度外，物业管理部门每天中午都会派他们的代表检查我的温度。这种待遇并不是因为我是外国人，而是对任何进入北京的人（包括从该州或国家出境的当地人）实行的规则。

I have no idea how I will be spending 14 days alone in a room. But, I work from remote, I have friends and families to talk to via chat. Above all, I'm not alone in doing this. At this point, there are around 80,0000 returnees in Beijing who are doing the same thing. Hopefully, in the coming days, it will get better and I hope this virus will go away soon. For a change, I’m looking forward to seeing  jam-packed roads and malls, as an indication that all is fine.

我不知道我将如何独自呆在一个房间里14天。但是，我是从远程工作的，我有朋友和家人可以通过聊天进行交谈。最重要的是，我并不孤单。至此，北京大约有80,000名海归在做同样的事情。希望在未来的日子里，它会变得更好，我希望这种病毒会很快消失。我期待看到拥挤的道路和购物中心，一切春暖花开。

Please note that we hope more people get the first-hand information, for articles that we have the footnote of the sources on the bottom, IICofficial does not necessarily endorse the views presented in this article. The copyright belongs to the original writer, and we've tried the best to proofread the content. 

Source:  https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/bengaluru-beijing-detailed-account-indian-self-quarantine-china-120215?amp=&from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0

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