Coronavirus may have entered our neighborhood

I woke up to a new world on Tuesday. And the coronavirus seems to be threatening our neighborhood as well. Police came to a neighbor's house -- he lives five houses down from us in our cluster of row homes -- and told him he has to stay in his house for two weeks. The man recently returned from a business trip to Switzerland. His wife chose to stay in quarantine with him, but his kids were sent to a relative's house; the mom now regrets the decision because she won't see her children for two weeks. A similar situation occurred on the street behind us. A couple from Japan is now under quarantine due to recent travels. In yet another nearby incident, an ambulance came to a house about a half-mile from our house and took two people away, most likely for testing. Those folks live two houses down from a daycare center. If they test positive, I was told the street goes on lockdown. The number of cases in Vietnam has gone from 18 to 61 in a little more than a week, according to reports from the government.

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The government sent out online notices over the weekend requesting that everyone wear masks when they go outside starting Monday, March 16. Most businesses have come to a standstill here. Only a couple of coffee shops have customers, and there's countless coffee shops. The big mall in town is eerily quiet. Most of the people in Bien Hoa -- and Vietnam -- are good about following rules. They are now more focused on hygiene ... and it's about time. But there will always be those who flaunt their civil disobedience by not following new rules and regulations they deem intrusive or insufficient. And some people are too poor and/or ignorant to worry or care about healthcare, hygiene and a pandemic like coronavirus.

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My daughter, who is a little more than 3 1/2 years old (44 months), doesn't understand the gravity of the situation and gets upset when we don't take her to the local market as much as we used to. We go out for necessities, like coffee and groceries. Rarely are the trips only for fun and entertainment. The heat contributes a little to this since the temperature is the mid-90s. But the coronavirus is the overwhelming factor, deterrent and topic in town ... and everywhere else, for that matter.

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I sent in my overseas absentee ballot on Monday via Federal Express because I wanted my vote to count in Tuesday's Democratic primaries in Ohio. It was a bit of a scramble. Then I saw Tuesday morning (Vietnam time) that voting may be postponed in the Ohio primaries until June.

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Since I'm Joanna's primary caregiver most of the day, I've bought puzzles, downloaded "educational videos", alphabet pages and coloring pages, and increased the amount of reading we do every day. Joanna has begun speaking in a British accent because she watches a lot of Peppa Pig, which even I find entertaining. She has become rather tall lately, and the growth spurt may have contributed to her moodiness. Or maybe that's just her age, or the fact she's stuck inside so much with her dad and misses her mom time. Or maybe it's her personality. Regardless, I'm humbled and inspired by the leeway Phuong has given me as I take care of Joanna. Phuong is rather limited in her activities due to her difficult pregnancy and to make matters worse, she's had relentless back pain the past few weeks. Nonetheless, we plod along in disturbing and frightening  times.