Posted by 2 months later after the outbreak of Covid-19 in China, and after recent quarantine of Italy, things have been changing dramatically in Belgium these 2 weeks.
冠状病毒在武汉爆发两个月以及近期在意大利全面爆发一两周以后，比利时这边也终于有一些改变了。
The attitudes of Belgians have been quite chill, their beliefs are “It is similar to flu”, “The mortality rate is low”, “Everyone will get it, it is just a matter of time”, “70% of the population estimated in Germany will get it, but hopefully not at the same time to not overload the healthcare resources”.
Since beginning of March, following advice from company and media, we have stopped physical contact in the office, greetings are replaced from handshakes or kiss on the cheek to “Elbow bumps”, “Namasté”, “Live long and prospers” and “Foot shakes”, it also actually brought a bit of fun to the formal work environment.
Personally my husband and I are extra careful as we have been following the virus spreading news for months, we have cancelled all the get-together with friends since February, we cancelled our trips to China also, my husband (a wise man) has bought lots of toilet paper, hand wash, hand sanitiser, frozen meat and vegetable, already 3 weeks ago, so we did not have to suffer from the panic shopping like other people who are doing it this week. I think we can stay home until summer 😀
其实比利时人对冠状病毒的态度一直都是比较轻视的，我说要戴口罩的时候他们还一脸嘲笑，说，”这不就和感冒差不多嘛”，”死亡率连流感都还不到”，”其实每个人早晚都会得，只是时间问题”，”德国都已经预测了70%最后都会德，他们唯一能做的就是人们患病的时间分散一下不要太影响社会秩序和医疗资源”。
其实自从三月份以来，在公司和媒体的建议下，我们打招呼的方式就已经从以前的握手，拥抱或者碰脸颊改成了因为冠状病毒而产生时尚方式: 碰胳膊，握脚, 星球大战 以及双手合十。大家都像欢乐的二货一样，给忙碌的工作还添加了一点欢乐。
老公早有先见之明，早就做好了会有一天宅在家的准备，三周以前就去一个大超市买好了厕所纸，洗手液，免洗消毒液，冷冻鱼，冷冻蔬菜，10kg大米等等，我觉得我们可以在家待到夏天 😀
This week multiple big things happened -这周突然发生了好多事情
On Tuesday 10 March – 三月10日周二
Italy was nationally quarantined
意大利全面封国了。
On Wednesday 11th March – 三月11日周三
Trump announced banning visitors from Europe (excluded UK)
川普禁止英国除外的欧洲访问者入境。
My university VUB announced that the lectures above 50 students will be replaced by distance learning starting from week of 16th March. As I only have one course this semester and no class this week, I did not have to go to school。
我们大学也宣布了50个学生以上的班级开始从下周起远程教育，由于我这学期只有一门课，我这周没有去学校。
On Thursday 12th March – 三月12日周四
My workplace and my husband’s announced work from home recommendation start from Friday 13th March until end of March
突然我们公司和我老公公司都宣布在家工作直到三月底。
France announced nationally closing of the schools until further notice
法国宣布学校停止上课，员工尽量在家工作，70岁老年人非特殊情况不要出门。
On Friday 13th March – 三月13日周五
Belgian government announced closing of the schools, restaurants and cafes, cancellation of recreational events etc
My university announced all classes are suspended
比利时政府宣布下周一开始学校停课，咖啡馆餐厅都停止营业，聚众型娱乐活动全面停止。
我们大学也全面停课了
Today I have spent one whole day working from home, together with my husband. Unluckily, we both had lots of conference calls, which means our home is like a call centre. I heard most of the companies in Belgium started the work from home policy, which follows the panic shopping in the supermarket.
现在估计你已经知道了，我和老公今天第一天在家上班，正好两个人都有好多电话会议，整个家里就像一个客服中心一样。
听说大部分公司也都采取了在家办公的措施，果然，超市像被抢光了一样，排队都要一两个小时。
Since 3 weeks we have spent all the weekends at home, for me it is an opportunity to focus on my master thesis which I had to hand in in May. For my master thesis, I am still looking for around 100 participants to fill in an employment motivation survey to support my hypothesis. So if you are not a student and not unemployed, please fill in this 15 minutes anonymous survey whenever you have time! Deadline: 20th March. Thanks a lot!
因为病毒原因，我们已经三个周末没有出门了，正好借这个机会我可以好好写我五月份必须上交的毕业论文。毕业论文有个关于员工动力的调查问卷，我还在找会英语的在职人员帮忙填写，如果您符合的话，欢迎花15分钟点击这里。 感谢大家！