SALT LAKE CITY — The suitcases were lined up in rows in a church parking lot in Seoul, South Korea, as missionaries gathered to say goodbye and receive their new assignments. The non-native missionaries would leave for their home countries where they’ll be isolated for two weeks before going back out to continue their work in other missions around the United States and elsewhere.
“It was a bittersweet day today in the Korea Seoul Mission. We laughed, we cried and we held each other tightly as we said goodbye to 74 missionaries who were pulled out of Korea because of the coronavirus,” said a Facebook post, carried to family, friends and the parents of the missionaries. It was written by Sister Ann Taylor, who together with her husband, President Brad Taylor, currently preside over the Korea Seoul Mission.
Sister Taylor — Ann — is my sister, and I’ve been following the work they’ve been doing to both protect and strengthen the missionaries and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that part of the world. It’s a story that is also playing out throughout Asia — in Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Also in Italy, where Ann served a previous mission, and in the greater Seattle area, particularly in Kirkland on the East side of Lake Washington.
As Lois Collins reported for the Deseret News, “As of Saturday, the official worldwide count was 101,927 lab-confirmed cases and 3,486 deaths. As of Friday noon, 164 cases in the United States had been reported to the CDC, but the health organization said state and local public health departments are now testing and local counts are presumed to be more current.”
Some questions being asked by reporters are not the right questions. Or perhaps they just don’t go far enough to provide the most important information.
A compelling article by Caroline Chen of ProPublica is headlined: ”I lived through SARS and reported on Ebola. These are the questions we should be asking about the coronavirus.”
Among the wonderful advice from Chen to reporters covering the outbreak is this: “Instead of asking: How many test kits do you have? Ask this: How many samples are you running per patient?” Labs run two tests per patient, so learning how many kits there are is not as significant as learning how many patients can be treated.
Collins of the Deseret News also dives into the issue of questions, and myths. Her story, “Coronavirus: 7 ways you may be panicking wrong,” notably points out that preparing for a possible pandemic is not the same as preparing for a natural disaster. Preparations for both are needed, but the preparation isn’t necessarily the same.
If an earthquake hits you will need those batteries, flashlights, water and food. But if the coronavirus requires you to remain isolated — to work from home, for example — the power will still be on, water will still come uncontaminated from the faucet, and Netflix will still be there for your viewing pleasure.
This is part of the personal nature of the crisis. Even in places where COVID-19 has not yet hit, it requires something of us. One coworker was headed to a baby shower in Seattle that was cancelled.
Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, a current candidate for governor, was asked by Gov. Gary Herbert to lead Utah’s response and preparation for the coronavirus. Saturday he sent out on a Twitter thread the latest on the coronavirus, from a Utah perspective.
He wrote: “If you have moderate or mild illness that seems like novel coronavirus to you (again, this includes symptoms like a fever, cough, or shortness of breath), just make a simple call to your clinician or public health department to ask about your symptoms. Always use telehealth 1st!”
“You can also visit our website coronavirus.utah.gov or call the Utah COVID-19 information line to answer your questions: 1-800-456-7707. Most likely you will be told to stay home, self-isolate and recover as you would with a cold.”
Sunday morning in South Korea (Saturday afternoon in Utah) they were regrouping. One sister missionary was getting on a plane later that day for Australia after her original Saturday flight was cancelled. Then more plans would be made about administering the affairs of the mission.
My sister and brother-in-law were in a thoughtful state of mind. They received a picture of missionaries who had made it back to the states and sent a text: “All our sweet Utah missionaries!!!! Brings tears!!!”
By phone, they said several things come to mind following such an eventful day: They are trusting in the Lord, and they are going back to work. They’ve had many messages of love and support from around the world. President Taylor said even with the missionaries confined to their apartments, the work they are there to do continues to go forward. It seems nothing, including the coronavirus, is stopping it.
Then came the message that the world can take to heart. It’s a message born from collective trial and struggle, like in a natural disaster or under threat of a pandemic.
From a South Korean corner of the world, my sister Ann said:
“We are not alone.”