(Xinhua, 2020-04-04) At 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Chinese people nationwide will observe three minutes of silence to mourn for the deceased, while air raid sirens and horns of automobiles, trains and ships will wail in grief.

The silence took over the country with the sirens in the air. Far away from home, the sound of sirens is clear in my head. Back in 2008, the tragic earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, carved a deep mark in my heart. Watching the figures of confirmed death rising, it was the first time I felt helpless facing the nature. Twelve years later, the good and bad stories revealed to me the best and worst parts in human nature, again.

In late December 2019, COVID-19 was first intensively reported in Hong Kong SAR (where I did my college). Then on January 23, 2020 Hubei imposed lockdowns to querantine the center of the outbreak. In a while, the daily life was severly affected, including raised food price and short supply in masks, after which the medical masks all over the world seemed to be bought and donated to China. Wuhan Red Cross was accused of mishandling and unjust in the distribution of donated supplies, especially urgent medical supplies. Things developed quickly. Soon the whole China (where my family resides) were highly alert, school and work were suspended to resume after spring festival (China’s most important traditional festival when families reunite). On March 31, the national collge entrance exam (Gaokao) is confirmed to be postponed for a whole month, which affects over 10 million students.

From Febrary, Japan, Korea, Italy, US sequentially witnessed outbreak and community spread (JHU CSSE). From late Feb to early March, universities in seriously affected states began to suspend schooling and transform to online teaching. On March 13, ISU decided to postpone resume of schooling after spring break for two weeks until April 4. Then on March 17, ISU decided that the virtual instruction extended through the end of spring semester. From that time on, I have been staying at my rented apartment, nearly a month until now.

This pandemia has ended the life of so many, and will change the paths for so many of us, forever. For those who are still hanging there, stay strong, positive, and remeber all those who gave us warning, scientific directoring, and spirital comfortness. I remember the whistle blower Li Wenliang, the elderly 老苏8811 using Weibo to find available bed spots for his family, female nurses cutting their hair to fight at the frontier, the nurse wife waving goodbye to her husband Liu Zhiming who worked as a doctor in a different hospital,…

Looking back, the continued worrying during the past four months and in the foreseeable future is nothing compared to those who lost their family or those who did not make it through. To some extent, it were their deaths raised the the public concern and saved the rest of us. Let’s take some time to stay with them and their family in spirit.

We shall never forget.