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province (the Gyeonggi-do province surrounds Seoul), but was
retracted on Wednesday because of international opposition on the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.
