The economic impact of COVID-19
The post title might be misleading! I’m not going to analyse the current state of the global economy here, but merely wanted to note a few changes I’ve been seeing in Suzhou these past weeks. Here, the coronavirus epidemic has been under control for more than two months and there haven’t been new local infections in a long time, but most people still wear a mask outside and when entering a public place or even our residential compound we have our temperature taken and we have to show a QR code which proves we haven’t been to any high risk place lately. By the way, I don’t think there are any places in China that remain as high risk at this point; the last city in the north where there was an outbreak a few weeks ago was reclassified as low risk several days ago. Not all Chinese cities are being as careful as Suzhou, though; based on what friends have told me, almost no one wears masks anymore in Shanghai or Guangzhou.
As I’ve written here before, in Suzhou we never had a forced lockdown or quarantine like in Hubei province, but most people complied with the official recommendation of going out only if strictly necessary and streets were basically empty since January 23 until mid March. During that time, some restaurants continued working and delivering food, but many businesses and factories had to stop. One of the first times I went out after the worst was over, I went to a small neighbourhood mall nearby. In the basement there used to be a lot of small restaurants serving fast food (which in China means noodles or rice with toppings) and I noticed that around one third of them had closed down. Unfortunately, they haven’t been the only ones… a couple of weeks ago I found out that Awfully Chocolate, a shop that used to sell the best chocolate cakes in the whole city, had closed their two locations. Now the closest good chocolate cakes are in Shanghai…
Goodbye, chocolate cakes.
Other places that have also closed lately include the stand that used to sell taiyaki (Japanese pastries with a red bean filling and shaped like a fish) and an ice cream shop that was within walking distance from our apartment. We liked walking there on summer evenings and Baby A. had his first taste of ice cream there last year. Now I have to check if the other ice cream shop we sometimes go is still open, if they also closed down then I don’t know where to get Italian style ice cream anymore…
Goodbye, taiyaki. We ate you for the last time last March.
Goodbye, ice cream.
Last weekend I also saw that a noodle shop in our street has also closed and a butcher shop or something like that is going to open there soon. A hot pot restaurant also closed at the beginning of the epidemic. I guess eating from a soup where everybody was dipping their chopsticks wasn’t the best of ideas at that time. Now a Family Mart (a convenience store similar to a 7/11) is going to open there.
It is obvious by now that many small businesses, particularly those selling non essential products, have had to close after the epidemic. At least in China people seem to open and close businesses very easily, but I’m not sure how other countries will deal with this.
Lightning speed: A month ago this was still Awfully Chocolate, now it’s a fancy stuffed animals store.
In Chicago, we are just starting to open up after 2.5 months of closure. As you mentioned, there are many places not opening again. We have the enforced rules now of 6 ft distance, masks, nothing on the tables in the restaurants… this is very hard. At least it is summer, so restaurants can have outside dining, but not all restaurants are set up for this. As the month progresses, we will see how stores/restaurants/hair salons, etc. are handling things. Thanks for sharing. :)
In Spain restaurants also reopened outside dining. To be fair I’m a bit worried about countries easing lockdown with still so many active cases and new infections every day. But I also understand that people need to work. It’s hard and I have no idea how I would do if it was my decision.
Yes, I agree, these are challenging times. I am not ready to eat out… maybe a coffee or something, but not dining. As the months go on, we will see what happens, but I think we are all ready to get back to some sort of “normal.” All big outdoor festivals have been cancelled in Chicago for the summer. Many companies are still going to work remote through end of August. As you say, there are other places (restaurants, hair salons, retail, etc.) where we need to go and buy things to keep them in business. It sure has turned into an interesting year… we never expected anything like this, right. :)
I fear for my sushi restaurants. Then went to pick and nighttime hours, but I am not sure how long they will survive.
The local Mexican place gets a lot of business still.
I think sushi and tacos are considered essential xD
I thought so, too!
No more ice cream?! They’ll be back and the chocolate cake shop when the demand starts again!
Here in BCN we’re started this week phase 2: I can shop freely within reason! I haven’t been out much shopping to see what shops are still operating. The big ones like Zara and Inditex for sure are as is HM. In El Borne, shops are always closing and new ones popping up but they rely a lot on tourism. Restaurants I think are only terrace or take away but that changes in phase 3. Sadly the poor bulls still have it bad. Bull fights are allowed to take place with 25% capacity in phase 2. Thankfully Catalunya banned bull fights. Clubs are allowed dancing only phase 3 and the poor bulls get bad all phases.
The fact that I’m surprised that anyone still attends bullfighting corridas shows how out of tune I am with Spanish society… hahaha.
It’s stupid it still goes on in the name of ‘culture’. I think they still hold them in France and Mexico.
I’m curious, you may have written about this elsewhere but I couldn’t find it, but given the current known infection and death rates in countries like Italy, US and now Brazil, do you think China’s reporting was correct? I know there is a lot of talk in the media about whether it was or not, but being there I thought you might have a better idea what is actually true.
Based on my own experience, I don’t have any reason to believe that the real number was much higher (at the beginning of February, some media were saying that the actual number of deaths was between 50k and 300k at that point). The main reason being that I don’t know anyone who knows anyone that was infected or died from Covid-19 in China; but I know 5 people in Spain who had infected friends or relatives. Not a very scientific observation, hahaha, but it’s what I have. I think the reason is that, from January 23 on, when Wuhan started the lockdown, people were at home and didn’t go out for 6 weeks (longer in Hubei province). The Wuhan lockdown was imposed when there were about 400 confirmed cases, if I’m not mistaken. Even if the actual number was 10x, that would be only 4000 cases. In contrast, many other countries didn’t take any measures even when they started having cases and life continued as if nothing was happening, even after seeing what happened in Italy. I personally remember statements on the Spanish press saying that even if the virus arrived there, it would be totally manageable.
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, to mention 3 countries that have much more direct contact with China than Italy or Brazil, have also reported very low numbers. Why are theirs not doubted?
That’s my two cents, haha.
That’s interesting, thanks. It is probably similar to here in NZ, where lockdown was imposed severe and early, and now we have no cases of the virus, and only had 22 deaths.
Ah, I didn’t remember you were in NZ. Yes, NZ has done great and has been the perfect example of what to do… which sadly was ignored by most countries, hahaha.
Too bad for the chocolate and ice cream shops. We’re starting to open up, but we’re still having new cases every day.
Yes, I am worried about that too. In Suzhou we only started going out after several weeks of no new cases…
Thailand continues to report low numbers, but then I heard that pneumonia deaths were up like 40% so that’s interesting. Esp given that Thailand continues to keep their borders and schools closed so we thought they were being overcautious but now I’m wondering if its because they know something we don’t know.
They’re talking about accepting tourists from countries with low-COVID numbers so if China’s to be believed (and anywhere else, really) then we have to brace ourselves for movement again. It’s fine for Thais and expats to be in 14 day quarantine but to expect that of tourists is insane.
I am sorry to hear about the smaller businesses. I worry about the US being hit with COVID and now the rioting has resulted in more businesses being destroyed. I don’t care about the CEO of Starbucks but the people who are employed. After all, there are only so many baristas a town can hire.
But maybe economies and the unemployed are more resilient that we think. God, what happened to 2020? Air Asia gave me credit for my unused tix to the States for up to a year, but then I just got another update that they are extending it for TWO years now. I think folks are bracing for another worldwide wave and possibly another 6 months of sluggish economies.
Glad you and the family are well, Marta. Take care. xo
I think many countries, Spain and China included, had deaths that were not officially attributed to COVID-19 simply because the person wasn’t tested.
I don’t think Chinese people will start traveling abroad en masse for the time being. They think China is the safest place to be in now, haha.
Seriously, right? OMG. Happy to be living in Thailand.
Pity the good cake shop is gone! Here in Melbourne, we’re starting to open up. In a few weeks, the restaurants will probably allow seating capacity of 50 or more. Last week I went out grocery shopping and there were people everywhere, lining up outside clothing shops and restaurants. Some places have closed down but most of them look to be okay. Last weekend there were really big peaceful protests around the country, and so many turned up. I think most of them think it’s okay to go out again. I am, however, careful about getting too close to others as who knows, second wave coming soon.
Good to see you around, Mabel! Glad to hear things are also getting back to normal in your neck of the woods.
It’s sad when small biz try hard and then they are forced to shut down.
It is! Chinese people have a remarkable ability to get back on their feet though. I’m much more worried about Spain…
Hi Marta.. We are seeing similar things here, as businesses start to re-open. Many of them have just given up as the financial burden of being shutdown was just too much. In some cases there are new shops replacing them, but many others are just gone. It truly is a shame.
We saw that there has been substantial flooding in Yangshuo. Part of our itinerary was to include a visit there and then a boat trip on the Li River. It seems like there is just one thing after another happening around the world.
Stay safe and healthy, be happy and find a new ice cream place for baby A.
Thank you! I’m currently trying my hand at making my own healthy ice cream, hahaha.
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