Campuses to keep closed-off management during summer holiday
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Hussein (pseudonym) was chatting with his friend in February, they were planning on how they will celebrate the occasion when China declares victory over Covid-19. From visiting Yellow mountain (Huangshan) to binge clubbing, all that they discussed involved going out and have some fun. After 76 days in lockdown, Wuhan—the city that Hussein resides in—finally reopened. He started planning his trips carefully but when he asked for the permission to start executing the tasks on his post-lockdown TODO list, he was met with a big fat NO CAN DO.
Now at this point, at least people deserve an explanation, but unfortunately, to many foreign students like Hussein that we have spoken to, they say it is usually just a no without any explanation. This can be very frustrating and it can affect someone's mental wellbeing especially after spending 76 days in lockdown.
Depending on your city, university and other factors, situations might be different. But many universities on their announcement for the commencement of summer holiday, they insisted that schools will continue implementing the closed-off management throughout the holiday. That is, students are prohibited to go out without permission. International student buildings are also under enclosed management. For those who wish to go out, they need to apply for a permission with real-name authentication and body temperature check for any entry or exit. Most of the exit permission are also restricted to only two hours. You might think that the situation outside is like this:
But you get surprised when you go out though, people are just back to normal and some don't even wear protective masks anymore. So the question comes, why foreign students have to be managed this way?
While many people think that the schools do so because the students might have the virus and spread it, it is quite the opposite. The foreign students who remained in their dormitories are some of the safest groups in the country. Unfortunately, that means they are also one of the most vulnerable groups, schools are doing this to protect the international students, not the other way round.
My personal reasons to stay inside
-Every time I think of going out, I first think about contact tracing.When someone is found with the virus, they trace everywhere and everyone they met within a certain time frame. So if you were at the same place and time with the person who got infected or who was carrying the virus, most of the time you will be isolated and in worst cases quarantined. Whoever pays for the cost of quarantine depends on the situation, but it is not cheap if you are to be quarantined at a designated hotel. What I am trying to point out here is that it does not take you to get sick to get in trouble, just one bad luck and it can cost you many things.
-Occasional misunderstandings are another reason I don't go out as much as I could. I don't want to go to a shopping mall and get stopped by the guards because I am a foreigner. Or take a bus then stopped because I am a foreigner and sometimes ending up making a scene. For this period of time I will only go out when it is absolutely necessary and I plan to go to places that people already know me to buy necessary stuffs.
But I am an introvert, solitude is the most comfortable default setting for me. Not only that I am comfortable being in solitude, but I think even if schools didn't keep closed-off management, I would have lived just this way until vaccine is available. Read the next post which shows a recent announced estimated price for the vaccine when it enters production stage.
-Insurance: If you have ever got sick in China, you know the scope of most of the insurance for students in the country. Getting Covid might be very costly to you, so as usual, prevention is better than cure.
As of now, Hussein just decided to stay put and limit his movements until vaccine is developed. His friend is undeterred though, he applied for a leave permission and went traveling across the country. Let us know your situation and experience in the comment section below.
This article was created to ease the frustrations and explain a few things after consulting with the international school management offices, international students in various universities and my own personal experiences.
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