If the past 148 days, I've spent nearly one-third of them in quarantine. I started in Beijing and have journeyed to Hong Kong and now Tokyo. At each destination, I've been through a 14-day quarantine and taken multiple Covid-19 tests. Spending weeks without stepping outside feels normal now, as does the tedious and onerous process of traveling during the pandemic.
Asia has largely managed to suppress the virus through these mandatory quarantines, strict international travel restrictions and aggressive contact tracing. East and Southeast Asia comprise about a third of the global population and a small fraction of the world's Covid deaths. In comparison, the US and Europe account for about 15% of the world's population and have about half of the world's Covid deaths. But even within East Asia, I have had significantly different quarantine experiences, giving me a window into how governments are trying to quash outbreaks in their own ways.
Asia has largely managed to suppress the virus through these mandatory quarantines, strict international travel restrictions and aggressive contact tracing. East and Southeast Asia comprise about a third of the global population and a small fraction of the world's Covid deaths. In comparison, the US and Europe account for about 15% of the world's population and have about half of the world's Covid deaths. But even within East Asia, I have had significantly different quarantine experiences, giving me a window into how governments are trying to quash outbreaks in their own ways.
