Chinese metropolis Xi’an has been stranded for nearly two weeks, no end in sight

The days are alike, but Metz is coping very well with it. “I can still do my job and spend a lot of time with my family. Every now and then I go for a run around our apartment. I ran 10 kilometers last week, still the same 600-meter lap. how small it is. ” he laughs.

Lots of support

According to Metz, there is a lot of popular support for the strict approach. “Of course everyone would like to go back to the streets, but people still think this is the best way to stop the epidemic. Before that, China was not affected by the pandemic for a long time, so people still believe in fast and hard. ” intervene to regain their freedom. “

He also notes that people have already taken action before a lockdown was announced. “Earlier in the fall, a few infections had already been reported. Then you saw that people stayed more indoors and wore mouth caps more often.”

And according to Metz, in fact, only a very small group is affected by the confinement. “That’s about 13 million people out of a population of 1.4 billion. The rest can do their job. Most people here think it’s good and it seems to be working.”

End not in sight

It is not known how long the confinement will last. “The authorities are not announcing an end date here, so we have to wait and see.” Metz takes into account that it may still take a while, especially with the Olympic Winter Games on the horizon.

“The authorities may not want to take the risk and wait to lift the lockdown until after the Olympics. For the Dutch, it will be difficult to understand, but they understand here. If we reduce the chances of the Olympics If we don’t play, we will. “