Journal - Covid Test

Sat Mar 20 14:11:33 KST 2021

I had my first covid test this morning.

I wasn't symptomatic, nor had I been in contact with anyone who had

tested positive. Nevertheless the test was mandated.

This was because I am a foreigner in Korea. More specifically, I'm

a foreigner in the Gyeonggi-do province in Korea.

A couple of weeks ago, the governor of Gyeonggi-do, Lee Jae-myung,

ordered that all 85,000 foreign workers in the province had to get

tested for coronavirus within a 2 week period, or face fines of up

to $3000.

In February, a screening of foreign workers at a factory in

Gyeonggi-do returned a high covid-postitive rate (around 19%), so

there were fears about a new spread among foreigner communities.

Earlier this week, a similar policy was adopted within the Seoul

province (the Gyeonggi-do province surrounds Seoul), but was

retracted on Wednesday because of international opposition on the

basis of its discriminatory nature.

The test itself was fine and the testing site was well-run. I had

seen other stories about very long wait-times and unpleasant

experiences on Reddit groups for other English teachers in Korea.

But my experience was mostly positive.

As far as I've heard, the governor is a bit of a 'populist' type

figure, and that would indeed explain this kind of directive.

Even though, of course, the policy is incredibly discriminatory and

probably grossly counter-productive, I didn't feel too put-out by

it.

I moved to Korea right as covid started to first spike in Wuhan, in

January 2020. I remember listening to the story on the radio on

the way to the airport. The entirety of my covid-experience has

taken place in a country that has been extremely pro-active about

fighting the virus. I've been so thankful for that. I'm not an

epidemiological expert, but from the perspective of someone living

in Korea, covid seems so 'manageable'. The 'sacrifices' I've had to

make are tiny in the grand scheme of things. I, and everyone around

me, wear a mask constantly. When I go cycling, I wear a mask. I

pass hundreds of other cyclists on the weekends, I've never seen

one without a mask. Children all wear masks everywhere. People are

cautious about gathering in large groups. Business have stayed

open, but take simple precautions. For a couple of weeks in

September, and a few weeks over Christmas, our school switched to

online classes as the country's restrictions increased. But those

restrictions also eased relatively quickly. They were introduced

quickly and they worked. Everyone follows them.

I know it's a gross generalisation, but Korean society is quite

'collective'/'communal'. For example, one of the first culture

shock moments I experienced here was the sharing of food. I used to

hate sharing food. But here, people can go out and all eat from the

same central dishes. Anyway, maybe this 'collectivist' spirit is

important in fighting covid.

Or maybe it's how efficient and developed a lot of its

infrastructure is. Internet is great here, and so are the various

'services' that can only emerge in a well-connected, well-organised

society. Home delivery is easy and predominant. You barely have to

walk 100m from your apartment to find most things that you need.

It's easy to 'quarantine'.

Or maybe it's simply the masks. There was a story here during the

last spike in cases (around Christmas). A Starbucks had about 20

(maybe 40) cases over a weekend. It turned out, though, that all

those infected had been on the upper level of the store, working on

their computers or studying. They had been in the store for a long

time, eating, drinking coffee, etc., without masks. People who had

just come in for a quick coffee, and even all the people working at

the Starbucks, and wearing masks, were all fine.

It's so hard for me to understand why people don't adopt this very

simple practice more wholeheartedly in many 'Western' countries.

Even in my home country, Ireland, I learned recently that anyone

under 13 years old, doesn't have to wear a mask. I can't understand

that. I teach 4 and 5 year olds who have no problem wearing a mask

for the 5 hours they're with us in the mornings.

Maybe there's more to the story than simply wearing masks and being

generally compliant, but I keep racking my brains about it, and

that's all I really see when I look around. I could be missing

something.

Anyway, I didn't mind having to go for the test. Yes, I minded

being singled out on a basis that wasn't scientific or rational,

but suspicion toward foreigners is a more general problem

within Korean society.*

*That's not to say that Korean people aren't welcoming or

hospitable. On the contrary, they remind me a lot of Irish people

in that sense. And I love them to bits. It's just that, if there is

ever any reason to suspect 'foreigners' about something, people tend

to jump on it quite quickly.

Gemlog