With the Chinese New Year once again approaching, it’s all beginning to feel a bit like 2 years ago, almost to the day. But in 2022, the focus is on all those holidaying school children with little to do.
The second anniversary of the infamous-worldwide Wuhan quarantine falls this Sunday, 23 January. In the days that followed, amid all the uncertainty, various edicts were passed down that were to supposedly keep us safe.
And now it’s all happening again, except this time the target is primary and secondary school students.
As the new year looms and local schools break up for the holidays, the China Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) feels the time is right to issue official notices, in the form of cartoon posters, to assist in the effort to stop the Omicron variant causing the havoc it has elsewhere, as Nanjing Daily has reported.
It’s familiar stuff that’s really all a bit spooky.
Remember being told to ventilate our homes regularly? To make sure to enjoy three square meals a day? To do 1 hour of exercise at home each day and to keep the house clean?
When going outside, to wear masks, avoid public transportation or any large scale gatherings and to always carry hand sanitiser.
Then there were the never-ending instructions telling us how to, step-by-step, wash our hands. And that worldwide curse, to maintain social distance.
It’s all in there and it’s what CDC wants the Chinese to preach to their children this Spring Festival, rather than gallivant off to a medium or high-risk area.
But with many unable to resist the urge to return to the ancestral home, will it be enough to keep Omicron at bay? Perhaps, and for a good reason.
Because this time around, however, and with the benefit of hindsight, we know the advice is sound.
