How serious should we continue to take COVID-19?

How serious should we continue to take COVID-19?

March 2020 - that is for sure an unforgettable date for everyone of our generation. It was a moment in which fear was around the world, that imprecise information was spreading quickly and impacting people from one side of the planet to another. Isn’t it crazy how, with the exception of a few countries, the same safety measures were being implemented in such different places? Where we come from, what we eat and we do with our lives simply don’t matter within this subject?

Well, these are answers we don’t know - in fact, we may never have them.

It was commonly said that whatever this virus was, a major change was being brought with it to the world. Although it hasn’t ended yet, some things we are learning and this is a good thing: to be still learning and to admit that.

When my girlfriend and I were going to back to Bali, in January of this year, after having some time with our family in our home town, things were already… weird. The number of cases in China were growing drastically, news started to focus on that, and we had been recommended to wear masks and apply hand sanitizer often whilst in the plane.

Of course, we never imagined to be living what we are right now (or what we have lived already?), but even if it had the presence only in China, at that moment, it was already a big time thing.

When I arrived in Alchemy, unsurprisingly, nothing was being said about the virus, however, I’ve always had the habit of reading the news in the morning and there it was all over the place.

One of the very first acts we took was to buy (what we considered to be enough for a while) hand sanitizers. Since February, each of our members are carrying a hand sanitizer with them and we encouraged them to be using even outside work. Wasn’t that a good reason to start to pay even more attention to our contributors hygiene?

When The Day came, we followed the instructions given by the government and Banjar. We kept the restaurant closed for a few days, which was scary, because in the existence of Alchemy, that actually had never happened. But it gave us fuel to study what could be done in order to thrive under these circumstances. Having our staff healthy was our number 1 priority, we had to think quick what we could do in order to protect our community and to be safe at the same. In Alchemy, there isn’t any decision taken without the participation of our staff: from closing on that few days, to reopen. They should understand what they are doing, and why…

Despite the social distancing, we worked even more closer to each other. We wanted to know how we were feeling, how our family was and if there was anything we could do better.

We looked for more and more beneficial products to our costumers; we launched our YouTube channel with videos with the most healthy recipes you could ever have; we literally gave classes to people of how well specific products could be good for our health; we opened a picnic area just across Alchemy in which people could be more distant to each other, but still having a good time…

Almost 8 months have now passed by, we remain open and that is still not over. Will the COVID-19 be over one day?

As a matter of fact, I am of the opinion that we, as an establishment, can’t put ourselves in a position of judgment. Although we serve the best quality and nutritious food we can possibly do, we don’t think it is up to us decide whether or not it is a good time not to follow the recommendations given by authorities and intellectuals worldwide. Of course we have our own beliefs and everybody

is free to do whatever they want, but at Alchemy, COVID-19 is taken seriously and we will continue to give our best to protect our community and to be safe.

You will still see our collaborators using mask, we will still ask for you to use hand sanitizer and we may check your temperature before entering. That all is because we care and because we should focus on what we can do better: serve healthy food with love and attention.

In parallel, innovative ideas are coming alive and we can’t wait to share them with you!

Love is present at Alchemy and your well being matter to us!

Maya

Maya is one of the owners and the current GM of Alchemy

Maya

Alchemy Manager

@alchemybali