January 2020

I was planning to fly back to Korea in March to see my family and friends. I was excited about this trip because it has been a while since I visited Korea. I have been missing authentic Korean food. I had a list of Korean food I wanted to try.  Most of all, I was dying to see my 조카 (jo-kha: a niece or a nephew) who was going to be one year old within a couple of months.  비행기표 (bi-hang-gi-pyo: a flight ticket) and hotels were all booked. My family and friends were ecstatic about me visiting Korea as we all were counting the days. I would have been in Korea in a couple months.  Although, the number of 코로나바이러스 (Coronavirus) 환자 (hwan-jah: patients) in Wuhan, China was increasing.

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February 2020

My sister started worrying about having a 돌잔치 (dol-jan-chi: the first birthday party) for my niece. She wasn’t sure if she needed to 취소 (chi-soh: cancel)  the party since the Coronavirus 발병 (bahl-byung: outbreak) was getting more serious in Korea. However, she was told that she would not be able to get refunded if she cancelled the party.

One day, the number of Coronavirus patients in 대구 (Daegu: the fourth largest city in Korea) went through the roof after 이단교 (ee-dahn-kyo: a cult church) gathering, which significantly increased the number of the infectees. Coronavirus became an imminent danger to most Koreans. 마스크 ( facial masks) became one of the most difficult items to purchase, even as the price of the item became insanely high.

Image by Pixabay

The following day after my sister had the birthday party for my niece, the Korean government officially announced plans to restrict public gatherings, such as church meetings, weddings, or birthday parties. In Korea, schools usually start around the first week of March, but 개학일 (gae-hak-ill: the first day of school) is now delayed until the end of March.

In Korea, there are over 10,000 people who have been tested for Coronavirus. https://wuhanvirus.kr/ is one of the websites which updates 실시간 (sil-si-gahn: a real time) 상황 (sang-whang: a situation).

Streets are empty like in a ghost town because people stay at home as possible as they can. Koreans use apps to track down the routes of Coronavirus patients in order to minimize the risks of getting infected. According to the website above, there are over 6,000 확진자 (hawk-jin-jah: confirmed cases) and 42 사망자 (sah-mang-jah: deaths) in Korea. 146,863 Koreans have been tested and 21,810 people are being tested as of 3/5/2020.

March 2020

The cult church leader in Daegu could be charged for murder and there are 110,000 Koreans who have submitted a petition to dissolve the cult church due to murder through to willful negligence. This Coronavirus outbreak is getting worse every day globally. It has spread to other countries, including the USA. I had to cancel the flight tickets to Korea, and I am constantly being educated on how to prevent COVID 19 at work.

Image by Pixabay

Unfortunately, Coronavirus cases have become 전세계적인 유행병 (jeon-sae-gae-jeok-in you-hang-byung: pandemic) and it has been spreading rapidly. We still don’t know much about this 바이러스 (virus). The best precautions to prevent this disease are to wash your hands thoroughly often and avoid touching your face. I truly hope the world conquers this nasty virus sooner, so we all can live the lives we want.