It feels more real with relatives under quarantine

When my cousin told me earlier this week that she and her son would have to be put under quarantine for two weeks, the pandemic for the first time felt more real to me than news on television.

My cousin took her 13-year-old son to a gym in Putuo District on February 27, and several days later they were informed that another kid playing in the gym that day had been diagnosed with COVID-19. The two spent an hour with the infected kid in the same space, so they were eventually marked as close contacts.

My cousin and her son are under quarantine at a designated location in Baoshan District. They're staying in a well-equipped room with two beds and a balcony they are not allowed to use.

"It's very much like staying in a hotel, except the room doesn't have a lock, and the smell of disinfecting fluids is always strong in the hallway," she told me. "Delivery service is available here, but no online food ordering is allowed. Everyday meals provided by the site and the things you buy are put outside your door."

Quarantine is proving to be harder than she thought, however.

My cousin tried her best to keep healthy: playing Mikado games with her son; covering as much work as possible on her laptop; keeping in touch with her son's teacher and helping him with homework; and doing aerobics in the room.

"Quarantine helps me rediscover things that we often neglect in our lives," she said. "For example, I never found the morning sun so beautiful. This becomes an opportunity for me to reexamine my life, realizing I was too obsessed with things that are not that important and neglecting things that can really make me happy."

I never realized that quarantine could become a Zen enlightenment lesson. It's a good thing, really, but then again...

"But you don't have to be in quarantine to realize these kinds of things," she said. "So wear your mask when you're out and avoid places with crowds."