Right now I am in voluntary self-quarantine after returning from overseas. When I flew into Kansai International Airport from the island of Bali on March 23, Indonesia wasn¡¯t on the list of countries with known coronavirus infections, and local authorities had not yet asked returnees from abroad to self-isolate for two weeks. Although I am back home in Japan, I have checked into a hotel to self-isolate because I feel I pose too much of a risk to the community of 450 people, most of them elderly, where I live.
When I left Japan on Dec. 4 last year, few people had ever heard of the novel coronavirus. I flew to Europe with my husband to drive from Frankfurt to Madrid, a rambling road-trip during which we watched the crisis unfold via the TV news.
¡°It¡¯s ridiculous,¡± said my Hungarian friend when we caught up with her in Austria. She works at a Suzuki factory in Esztergom. ¡°The Japanese managers have removed the handles from all the doors in the plant and you have to sterilize between each room.¡±
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