When Kayla Perez returned to South Korea from a holiday vacation at home in the Coachella Valley and then in Japan, things in the country had changed drastically.
Back at the school where she taught English in Seoul, her fellow teachers told her she needed to wear a mask wherever she went. At her school, Perez, age 24, said parents weren’t allowed to attend graduations, and teachers had to sit far apart.
The Xavier Prep (2014) and UCLA (2018) graduate from Cathedral City said that she felt safer in South Korea than the United States during the coronavirus pandemic because of the unique safeguards in place.
Lessons learned from the MERS outbreak in 2015 helped the country quickly flatten the curve. In response to MERS, the government changed its laws to give health authorities access to CCTV footage and geolocation data from patients' phones, The Atlantic reported. It also allowed laboratories to use unapproved diagnostic kits during a public health emergency.
"They were on high alert because they didn't want another repeat of that situation," Perez said.
People were also taking the situation seriously because the country typically sees many tourists from China, she said.
The country quickly made widespread testing available, put in place extensive contract tracing methods and allowed health authorities access to geo location data. Any time Perez traveled around Seoul, she would receive a text alert, alerting her to cases reported in that region and providing information about how to get tested.
She said having that level of information made her feel safer, and she was comfortable with the government tracking her location, given the emergency.
"I understand why Americans like to have their privacy," Perez said. "I think privacy is important. I do think, in a pandemic, it's very helpful and it eases your mind. Some people might not want to know, but ... it makes people more aware. In my opinion, I felt safer."
Even after the outbreak in Daegu, people were not ordered to stay at home. But in public places, fever checks were required and masks were available to those without them. Everyone was wearing a mask, Perez said. While sharing is common for South Koreans while dining out, people started ordering and eating separately.
Perez's one-year contract with the country's EPIK teaching program was cut short because of the pandemic, albeit only by a few days. She was worried that if she didn't head home immediately, she might get stuck overseas. Perez said she was shocked over how easy it was to return home to the Coachella Valley in February.
"The situation in Korea was starting to get worse and worse each day, so we started worrying and we wondered if we get to the airport, are we even going to be able to leave?" Perez said. "The news was making it big. Everybody in Korea was wearing masks. We were really nervous."
Perez and her father, a medical professional who flew in to help her move, were concerned that President Donald Trump may institute a travel ban any day, because one had just been declared for those in China. The day after they flew home, Korean Air — the airline they used — started instituting stricter measures for passengers, including additional questioning and temperature checks, Perez said.
Perez said she was surprised they weren't asked more questions when they flew out and when they returned to the United States.
"We thought customs was going to be like a nightmare because we had just come from South Korea, which was a huge epicenter country at that time," she said.
Once Perez and her father returned to the Coachella Valley, they self-quarantined for two weeks, although Perez said no one asked them to, and neither of them displayed symptoms.
More: Coronavirus in Coachella Valley: Cases so far
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Perez said she has kept in touch with her co-teachers, who are mostly South Koreans. Schools are still closed, but teachers are going into the classrooms to film their classes, which they post online, she said. There are still no stay-at-home orders in place.
South Korea on Friday advised nightclubs and hostess bars to close for a month and may delay the reopening of schools after the disclosure of 25 new cases, South Korea’s first jump above 10 in five days.
Perez said she wanted to teach English abroad in order to travel — she had never been overseas before — and see if she liked teaching. She discovered that she does.
Perez is now enrolled in an online education master’s program through Western Governors University, which she plans to complete from her family’s home in the Coachella Valley.
Risa Johnson covers Native American affairs in the Coachella Valley and beyond. She can be reached at risa.johnson@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4737. Follow her on Twitter @risamjohnson.
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May 11, 2020 at 03:15AM
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Coachella Valley local shares COVID-19 experience in South Korea, where she taught English - Desert Sun
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