Stephan Dyckerhoff lives in China. He avoided the Corana outbreak by spending a couple of weeks in quarantaine in Switzerland, but eventually on his return to China he turned out to have Corona. The Editorial team asked him to share his experiences with us in his role as father and business person.
“When I heard that I was tested positive, well, I just could not believe it.” “Patients were also ‘study objects’ to generate data about the virus, symptoms, treatment effectiveness which resulted in 5 CT scans which I obviously disliked.”
We left China where we had been living for 15 years, on January 20 for our one-week Chinese New Year holiday. When we arrived back in Switzerland, our home country we were “grounded” for 7 weeks as schools in Shanghai closed due to the Corona crisis. We were worried about travel restrictions once we return to China. Switzerland was not the worst place to be grounded so we decided to see it positively. eSchooling started extremely fast and adjusted for the needs of kids in other time zones. This improved week by week. Yet, eSchooling for the younger kids (we have 5 kids aged 6-20, 4 are still in school) became time intensive for us as parents. We organized strict routines during weekdays to ensure that this didn’t become an extended holiday but remained focused on school and work. In mid-March we decided to return to Shanghai, primarily because one of our sons has his IB exams this year. Of course, we expected schools to start up.
Unfortunately, I tested Corona-positive on arrival (everyone who enters China is being tested) and sent to a Chinese isolation hospital. And my family was sent to government quarantine for 2 weeks. It was quite a challenge for everyone being locked in a 12 sq m room, especially for the children.
When I heard that I tested positive, I just could not believe it. I had tested before we left Switzerland (as I felt a coming flu) and I was negative. Later (after I was diagnosed positive in China) it turned out that they had a technical problem in the lab … They had also diagnosed me with pneumonia even though I was asymptomatic. Our house in Switzerland is close to the Italian border and although we had tried to stay at home as much as possible, I remembered sitting in a restaurant next to a large group of Italians. Maybe this was the point of infection.
I had excellent experiences in the Chinese hospital! They clearly knew what they were doing; they had lots of experience. The medical examinations and treatment were outstanding, and nurses/doctors were very friendly and helpful. My family in their quarantine facility were treated equally well; everyone was very friendly with them. Of course, comfort was a different story as they had to stay in a small 3-bedroom unit and the hygiene level we are used to was lacking.
It was soon obvious that ‘patients’ were also ‘study objects’ used to generate data about the virus, symptoms, treatment effectiveness. This means I underwent 5 CT scans an experience I obviously disliked. At the same time such programs will help both China and the world get a better understanding of the virus and treatment effectiveness.
As a business-person, my first reaction was to panic. Will we survive? But, very soon I fully focused on Cash Flow management as I got worried about losing what we had built in Asia over the past 5 years, with substantial positive impact for patients, nurses and caregivers. Our teams acted very differently. In Taiwan and Japan business was more or less as usual. In China the team was struggling to find the balance between working from home (often with their child requesting eSchooling support) and finding out what they actually can do from home, especially being so limited by the government. My biggest (and most positive surprise) was our India team: They developed a truly fighting spirit, taking the “crisis as an opportunity” they found very creative and pragmatic ways to continue servicing our patients even in lockdown (e.g. caregivers living with the patient families).
The first thing I did when I got released from hospital is hugging my wife and kids – after 30 days of only video call interaction this is what they missed the most! The experiences of these past weeks led to deeper levels of reflection about life and existence. As big as the Corona crisis is, I see lots of positives. Be it more and more intensive time with the family or friends – “I reconnected with lots of former friends.” Also, “I used the time to live healthier (no coffee, no alcohol, lost around 10kg weight!)”. And external benefits, like less travel, less air pollution, a general “calming down”. I am Christian and believe in God. And the way I see it is that God wanted to send us a warning that life cannot continue like it was. I hope mankind will be able to remember the learnings from the crisis, act on them and change their behavior. I am convinced that life will be rather different from how it was before. I feel even more humble, and also more grateful for the biggest asset I have in my life, my family!
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