Pullman, stay strong!
As I type this post on my laptop over here in China, it is the night of
April 4th and the very first day of Tomb Sweeping Festival. April 4th was just declared a
“National Day of Mourning” for the Spring 2020 Coronavirus victims. There was a national 3 minutes of silence at
10:00AM. As domestic quarantines and
lockdowns continue to rapidly lift in stages here in China, I did think back
and reflect on the victims, the response, and my own time in lockdown here in
China for some of the time at 10 o’ clock; but for the rest of the time
(remember, this was three minutes of silence, not just one), I thought about my
family (some of whom are in Pullman), and, of course, Pullman, Washington,
itself. With the State of Washington
just recently officially extending stay-at-home measures until May 4th,
Pullman – along with all of the U.S. – finds itself in the midst of the
Coronavirus Pandemic. The steps I see my
fellow Pullmanites going through now seem to invoke some wicked déjà vu in me
of the steps China went through of lockdowns/quarantines/stay-at-home measures
coming into place back in January and then being further extended in February.
Pullman and the State of Washington as a whole have largely
responded swiftly and decisively to the outbreak and have gotten things under
control much better than some other places.
I make this remark as a compliment to Pullman and the State of
Washington, not as an attack on other places.
Washington State University students went on Spring Break, and then
didn’t come back, resuming Spring classes digitally after their Spring
Break was over. Pullman K-12 Public
Schools had their last day before extended district closures took effect on
Friday, March 13th – very fitting that the last day of school for
all of Pullman’s K-12 demographic before Coronavirus stay-at-home measures took
affect for them was a Friday the 13th. With Governor Inslee's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" Order currently in full-force in Pullman, much of Pullman is closed down at the moment. Stay strong and keep the faith Pullman and my fellow Pullmanites! Pullman will persevere! The world fought the Spanish Flu this same
way 100 years ago and won, we can do it again now!
Stay up-to-date with the latest Pullman COVID-19 updates HERE!
