While world continues to battle virus, expats in China feel safe

Expat workers from an English education institute based in Shanghai said they feel very safe living in China even as COVID-19 continues to affect the world.

Cloe Abrahams, who has lived in China for nearly four years, teaches at ABIE English's Waigaoqiao center in Shanghai. "I felt safe even when the COVID-19 outbreak happened in 2020 because China had everything under control," she said, adding that social distancing during the pandemic control last year did not cut down connections between her and her students and colleagues as she stayed in touch with them online.

"Living in China since the outbreak hasn't been that different to living in China before," said Brandon Leon Chung, a British teacher of ABIE English.

"While we saw few months of stringent conditions and regulations to keep people safe life has largely been back to normal since last summer. Actually, I've been more worried about my friends and relatives in Europe and Canada."

Expatriates working in Shanghai can get the COVID-19 vaccine simply by making an appointment for the two-shot vaccine online since March 29. For those who have not opted into the local health insurance systems, the vaccine cost is 100 yuan (about $15) per dose.

China was the first country to get the pandemic under control as Wuhan, one of the nation's metro cities in the central part and the epicenter of the pandemic, was lifted from lockdown less than three months after the virus first broke out in the country in January 2020. Public life came back to normal in the summer nationwide despite sporadic outbreaks that were brought under control due to effective precaution and quick response.