Chronicles of conflicting care in confinement: Documenting the work experiences of seven ‘patient zeros’

Abstract

This article documents the experiences of a group of working women who were amongst the first diagnosed with COVID-19 in their country. Through interviews at two points in time, personal diaries and WhatsApp conversations , we lay bare how feelings of shame, hate and guilt for being patient zeros intersect with the experience of intensified care work during the lockdown. Care during the confinement became a central feature of everyday life and often took a virtual turn, both among families and friends as well as in the distanced workplace. Yet meaningful caregiv-ing from the organizations in times of economic uncertainty was mostly lacking and passed on to individual employees who felt a moral and gendered obligation to substitute for the corporate carelessness. The conflicts of care that emerged out of this situation came at the cost of self-care. We argue that, although the women in our study are mostly privileged, there is a surprising amount of suffering that took place. Finally, we question our own care ethics as researchers in further burdening those suffering in pandemic times to participate in this study.