The 2019-20 Novel Coronavirus and Argentina

During the past few weeks, the world has turned upside down. It's been stunning to watch the rapidity of the transition. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) appeared in China late last year, exploded there in January, and then began to spread steadily to the rest of the world. South Korea had its turn in February with rampant infections and many deaths; Iran and Italy followed. Europe was in serious trouble by the end of February, and then the USA's exposure started to escalate. Meanwhile in Argentina....

It was a little disconcerting to watch the impact of the disease, and of fear of the disease, as it spread through the US and other countries. Here was some of what we saw from afar, and how we felt the impacts:

• Knowledge that the growing impact of the disease would have immense financial impact worldwide has resulted in severe stock market crashes. This is presenting a "worst case scenario" for us and many others who have speculated about our future, hoping our investments would be sufficient to last for the rest of our lives. It's hard to be newly retired and have this happen, leaving so much uncertainty for us and many others.
• The short-term fears of how the nation would respond to the situation resulted in runs on grocery stores. Initially everyone seemed obsessed with toilet paper and bottled water; but soon the shelves in grocery stores were bare as the panic set in. Stories of long waits for limited stock are hard to imagine in our time of plenty.
• Soon there were concerns about public gatherings. We would see videos of soccer games in Europe being played to empty stadiums. Precautions against mass contagion kept event organizers from allowing the public to assemble; the fear of catching the dreaded virus kept people home. Before long, the USA followed. College and professional sporting events tried to hold on but were eventually cancelled, including the remaining seasons for the professional basketball, hockey, baseball, etc. And the entire "March madness" tournament for college basketball was at first going to be played to empty stadiums, but was then cancelled altogether.
• It seemed like the schools tried to hold out as long as they could. Some of the rationale was that younger people seemed to be much less susceptible. But who wants a bunch of sick children spreading disease? Gradually we started hearing about universities preparing for a move to online instruction where possible; then quickly it became required. And soon the elementary schools followed; almost all schools have been closed.
• Of course, Church meetings also were a victim. It was pretty amazing to have the Church announce that for now, all public meetings around the world would be suspended and members were encouraged to hold their own home meetings. General Conference in early April would have no attendees; it would be broadcast only.
• As the concerns grew throughout the world, international travel started to become a concern. The disease was first spread from China by people who contracted it there but them flew to other areas in the world. Or from Korea or Italy, or some of the other countries with higher early exposure. So soon anyone coming from those countries was checked for disease, then was put into a 14-day quarantine to make sure they weren't carriers. Then flights were shut down altogether.

Meanwhile in Argentina, we watched all the problems develop in the northern hemisphere, where it was winter, with less concern because we were in the middle of the summer in the southern hemisphere and viruses don't spread as easily. There were a few cases of travelers who brought the disease back with them from Italy or China, but (we thought) little risk of rapid spreading. We thought life might go on as normal.

The 3-country border area. Iguazú Falls are to the right,
on the river between Brazil and Argentina.

Bonnie and I flew to Puerto Iguazú in far eastern Argentina and spent two days, March 9-10, in eastern Paraguay doing wheelchair interviews in Ciudad del Este where we were more concerned about a dengue fever outbreak. We crossed back over the border through Brazil to Argentina, and had a nice meeting on Wednesday morning, March 11, with one of our partners there—representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who are working with refugees. We then returned to the Brazil side to wait for two of my sisters and their husbands who would come for a mini-vacation.

That day, the World Health Organization formally declared the coronavirus a global pandemic with worldwide exposure and impact. We started to see concerns rapidly escalate as we tried to enjoy our tourist experience in Iguaçu Falls.

Late Thursday afternoon, we started to hear about proposed measures Argentina would take to control the spread of the virus. One of the other senior missionaries, our friend Ralph Jordan who serves in the legal office in Argentina, contacted us to let us know of the government proposals being discussed. The most serious of these, as far as implications for us, would be the requirement of a quarantine period for all people coming into Argentina from areas of highest risk—including China, South Korea, Europe, and (newly added) the USA. That would have included our visitors! The restrictions were not yet in effect, but in a draft proposal form that could take effect at any point, and it would apply retroactively to those already in the country.

So there we were—just at the start of a much-anticipated vacation for family members that would include not just 3 more days with us in Buenos Aires, but then they would go on to Patagonia and other areas to the south. Now everything was up in the air. It looked likely that they would be forcibly quarantined if they remained in Argentina. We collectively made the decision that they needed to cancel their trip and go home, regardless of the cost. So first thing Friday morning we got them back over the border into Brazil, and they were able to get flights home. We returned, sadly alone, to our apartment in Buenos Aires.

New announcements were coming every day. Argentina did put those measures into effect, and we were all grateful that my family members got out in time. Bonnie and I had a busy Saturday, recovering from our trip, going shopping to begin to prepare for potential local issues, doing laundry, etc.

The senior missionaries were invited to meet with a member of the Area Presidency on Monday morning in the office. We assumed it would be an update of the issues and an answer to any concerns. But it turned out to be more serious than that. We were all asked to stay at home in our apartments. Apparently the Argentina president had recommended Sunday evening that all people over 60 (the most vulnerable to the impact of the disease) stay inside and avoid public contact. So we were instructed to "work from home" and minimize our time outdoors, only doing essential shopping in the mornings when crowds were smaller, etc.

Our apartment building. We are on the 7th floor
(see arrow) and fortunately do have a balcony for fresh air.

That seemed reasonable. We shopped a bit more on the way home, gathering additional necessities for what might be a more extended stay—and starting to notice that some grocery store shelves were getting bare here too.

Tuesday morning, the next bombshell dropped. Argentina added Brazil to their list of quarantine-worthy countries. Because we had been in Brazil last week, we were now officially required to remain in our apartment completely, with minimal outside contact, for the 14-day period! WHAT? QUARANTINED?? It was one thing to be there voluntarily, with the ability to go out for a walk in the park if we wanted some afternoon sunshine. But to be required to stay inside and cut off from contact was very different and very disconcerting.

Neither Bonnie nor I feel any symptoms, and of course, do not expect to. But the "incubation period" of the virus requires us to exercise caution, just in case we picked something up while we were mingling with the masses in Brazil which has more disease than Argentina at this point.

I might add that all senior missionaries were given the option to end their missions and go home. There was one couple and a single sister who were near the end of their service who moved up their dates and have left; and another couple whose assignment (starting the "Just Serve" program in Argentina) was put on indefinite hold, so they went home too. The other 11 couples serving in the Area Office stayed.

We have a serious concern about our ability to function in our calling right now, as humanitarian missionaries. We will do all we can with phone calls and email. But so much depends on our ability to get out among the people and visit, interact, verify concerns, see the situations where help might be needed, etc. Or visit people to do wheel chair interviews. Even if we weren't fully quarantined, we would be very limited to do our calling effectively. We are just hoping that this "down time" will pass quickly so that we can get back to work soon!

As frustratingly disappointing and inconvenient as all these measures are, we have to say we are grateful that Argentina is being as aggressive as possible in preventing widespread infection here. The health care system is not great, and it could easily become overwhelmed if a situation developed similar to what is going on in Italy. So we will definitely obey the restrictions and do our best. And pray that we'll all get through this soon!