Eugénia in Shanghai: We are lucky to be in 2020 as our loved ones are just a message or video away

  • Keep In Touch
  • Le 31 mars 2020
Eugénia Lao (IMM 12), is from Portuguese Macao. Since 2014 she has been working in Shanghai, most recently for luxury brand Qeelin where she is currently eCommerce & Digital Project Manager. Eugénia lived through the Covid-19 confinement in Shanghai and has been back at work since early March.

We asked Eugénia to share her thoughts and experiences.

How was the Covid-19 situation managed in Shanghai?
Apart from the basic hygienic measure such as wearing a mask and washing our hands frequently, we were required to fill out an online health declaration form to declare our travel history and individuals who had been to certain areas were quarantined. Other travellers were advised to self-quarantine at home for 14 days. The rest of the residents practiced confinement. All public places closed down for over a month. Thankfully, things have been getting back on track since early March.
At the moment, we are all required to show a code before entering any public places to indicate that we are 'healthy' and have not travelled out of Shanghai in the past 14 days. If you cannot prove you are healthy, you will not be allowed onto the site.

In your opinion, what measures worked the best?
Quarantine and confinement have definitely helped avoid any cross-infection especially when we were running low on masks and disinfectants.

How did you keep in touch with your family and friends during confinement?
We are lucky to be living in 2020 as our loved ones are just a message or a video call away!

What advice would you give to fellow alumni in France who hare in their second week of confinement?
  • Start your day by a short morning workout with a Youtube video.
  • Create a new routine, work schedule, and screen time and try to stick to it as much as you can. Change your clothes and wash your hair often. The worst thing you can do is to stay in front of your laptop the entire day in your pyjamas with a bag of nachos (sound familiar anyone??)
  • Fill up that usual apero time by making alternative plans for the rest of the year because it looks like there won’t be much travelling!
  • Stay upbeat and positive but also reflect on the life style we led before the lockdown. Consider if it could have been more sustainable and nature friendly. If the answer is yes, then plan the change!

What did you learn about yourself during this period and how did you feel about returning to work and the office?
We are already working full time at the office after 3 weeks of rotation in order to keep the social distance. To my own surprise I was very happy to be back to the office; it felt like it was the first days of school.

Are there any new habits that you gained during your confinement that you will continue to use?
  • The confinement definitely interrupted my fitness routine of training 5 days a week. Since I have a sweet tooth and life is too short to skip dessert, and I wasn't prepared to come out of confinement with an extra 10 kilos, I decided to try making the healthy version of all the desserts I love with recipes I found online. Some of them are actually pretty easy to make!
  • I am not the most patient person and meditation seemed like an impossible task until I tried out the app Calm to start my morning with a daily dose of wisdom. They have this “Daily Calm” that takes about 10 minutes per day - light and easy for beginners.


On my way to grocery shopping


Home workout!


Having my temperature taken and contact info recorded before getting in the office (same practice for any restaurants and public places)


My chocolate mousse made with, wait for it, ripe bananas (to replace sugar), avocado (to replace egg), unsweetened cocoa powder, and just a dash of almond milk. 
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