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| Screenshot of the app (疫测达) where you can upload your rapid antigen test result, if you need it as proof to enter public places. |
Posts about the covid outbreak in Shanghai, China:
Complete list is here: Index of Posts About the March 2022 Shanghai Covid Outbreak
On the Current Covid Outbreak in Shanghai (March 12)
I'm in Lockdown (March 16)
I'm Still in Lockdown (March 19)
I'm in Lockdown Again (March 25)
Now All of Pudong (East Shanghai) is in Lockdown (March 28)
Lockdown Diaries: Covid Case in Our Complex, and Free Veggies from the Government (March 31)
Lockdown Diaries: Antigen Self-Tests, and Children with Covid (April 3)
Lockdown Diaries: Dressing Up, Free Medicine, Free Rice (April 6)
Lockdown Diaries: I am Okay, Shanghai is Not (April 9)
Lockdown Diaries: Part of Shanghai is Out of Lockdown (April 12)
Lockdown Diaries: Dystopian Madness (April 15)
Lockdown Diaries: 3 Covid Deaths Reported in Shanghai (April 18)
Lockdown Diaries: More of the Same (April 22)
Lockdown Diaries: This is a Human-Made Disaster (April 26)
Lockdown Diaries: Exciting New Definition of "Society" (May 1)
Lockdown Diaries: Some People Can Go to the Grocery Store (May 3)
Lockdown Diaries: More and More People Get to Go Out (a little bit) (May 7)
Lockdown Diaries: Taking a Whole Building to Quarantine (May 10)
Lockdown Diaries: Restrictions on Chinese Citizens Leaving China (May 13)
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Are you tired of reading my blog posts about lockdown? Well I am tired of being in lockdown.
Here's the updated timeline:
March 16-21: First lockdown. 6 days.
March 23-now: Second lockdown. 56 days and counting.
Nucleic acid tests (conducted by baymax, ie, the workers in white hazmat suits): 27 times (March 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 26, 28, 30, April 4, 6, 9, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 29, May 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16)
Antigen self-tests: 26 times (April 2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 [twice], 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 28 [twice], 30, May 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17)
(The above info is specific to our apartment complex. Other apartment complexes in Shanghai will have a similar situation but not exactly the same.)
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Finally some of us get to go out
So, our apartment complex has been classified as a "precautionary area" for a while now. (I blogged about the definition of "precautionary area" here- it's the best category to be in.) But so far, we hadn't heard anything about actually being allowed out of the complex- even though being in a "precautionary area" supposedly means you're allowed to go out.
Well big news, tonight it was announced in our apartment WeChat group that tomorrow (May 18) our building can send 2 people out, for 3 hours. Yes. Our building. Can send 2 people. And then, on May 20, we can send 2 people out again.
Hooray...?
Apparently there's 1 nearby grocery store open, and they told us we're allowed to go there.
They said if you go out, you have to do a rapid antigen test first, and upload your negative result on the app. The grocery store will be checking to make sure everyone has a negative test from the past 24 hours. And then, when you arrive back at our complex, you do another rapid antigen test.
Okay, so those are the rules for our complex. I wrote in my May 3 post about rules that I had heard from other people, in other parts of Shanghai- typically I've heard that 1 person per household can go out for 2 hours twice a week. But for us, it's 2 people from our entire building (our building has something like 50-100 people).
Some people are saying "I want to go out so I can buy coffee mix," some people are saying "you'll probably have to wait in line for 2 hours once you get there, it's not worth it," some people are saying "it's not safe out there."
Personally, if I got out, I wouldn't go stand in line at the grocery store, I would go all around and look at everything. What is it like out there? Which streets have been blocked off? Is anything open at all?
I know some streets near us have been blocked with metal fences because I saw some photos shared in the WeChat group. Also, we tried to order delivery from a hot pot restaurant, and the delivery guy called us and said the road was blocked and there were a bunch of police not letting anyone through, so we had to cancel our order. (This was the second time we tried to order hot pot- the first time was successful, as I wrote in my May 7 post.) I guess they weren't allowing deliveries because people think you can get infected from food deliveries.
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Videos of people who know their rights
On WeChat recently I've seen a few videos shared of people who refuse to do what the pandemic workers tell them they have to do. For example, the baymaxes in white hazmat suits come and say "we are going to disinfect your home" and the resident says "I don't agree to that."
Or someone is being told they are being taken to quarantine, and they have a discussion with the baymax, like "show me the written notice where it says that" or asking the police "what is your police id number?"
And the conversation is calm and polite and eventually the person just refuses and the pandemic workers leave them alone.
So... the point is, some of this stuff they are telling people they have to do (like let the baymaxes come and spray chemicals inside your home) you are not actually legally obligated to do. You can refuse.
I'm not sure how to explain this, because Americans say things like "in China you don't have rights" but it's actually more complicated than that. Like for some things- for example, covid-positive people being sent to very crappy "makeshift hospitals" with horrible conditions- I don't think there's ever going to be any acknowledgement that that was wrong and those people deserved better. And then there are other things, situations where a small local government is making rules that are more strict than what the city government said- for example, apartment complexes not allowing people to get food delivered- and there's a hotline number you can call and report it, and the higher-ups will step in and get your apartment management in trouble for that. Or maybe the higher-ups won't care, even though the residents are in the right, legally, to complain about how their apartment management is treating them.
And there actually are laws about hindering the anti-pandemic efforts- if you lie about your travel history or positive test result, and then you end up infecting other people, you can go to jail for that. Also, people have been detained for "spreading rumors" on WeChat. So... the stuff that really is illegal, you really can get in trouble for.
But people that have to go to quarantine are being told "you have to hand over your apartment keys so we can disinfect your home" and they know that's bullshit, you are NOT legally required to hand over your apartment keys. So people have been sharing videos on WeChat about knowing your rights. At the same time, though, I also saw videos/photos of pandemic workers breaking down doors or climbing through windows. (Don't worry, SHINE has articles to explain how it's not what it looks like. [I am making a skeptical face.]) That's illegal, but if that happens to your home, and you report it, I am not sure if you'll be successful in holding them accountable- maybe the higher-ups won't care.
So it's not true that "in China you don't have rights"- it's much more complicated than that.
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WeChat groups about leaving China
Recently, international people who are leaving China have been setting up WeChat groups specifically to talk about the process of leaving China. That's because things are so complicated now, and there's so much red tape and bureaucracy, it really helps to be able to talk to people with similar experiences so you can find out how things actually work in practical terms.
Actually, for the past 2 years, there have been lots of WeChat groups for people who want to enter China. Many many groups, different groups depending on what country you're coming from, groups for people already in China who are trying to plan a round-trip to go somewhere and come back, lots of groups. Because the requirements to enter China are so complicated and have changed so many times, you need to talk to people who are going through the same thing.
Does this mean there are more people leaving than usual? I think, yes, because of the lockdown, more international people will leave China. But also, it's normal that international people come to China and just stay a few years and then leave. We always have friends who are leaving, and probably most of the people we see leaving now are people who had already planned to leave anyway. But now they find that leaving is way more complicated (like how do you even get to the airport, if you're in lockdown?) and so they start WeChat groups to talk about it.
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June 1 "back to normal" target
So woo, big announcement, there is a plan for things to start opening up again and getting "back to normal." By June 1! Or starting June 1! Or something! Very exciting! Okay, honestly I didn't really pay much attention to the details, because I am HIGHLY SKEPTICAL this is actually going to happen.
Yeah I'll believe it when I see it.
(Also I think some of this is to make people elsewhere in China think that things in Shanghai are better than they really are. I have a Chinese friend in another city- she texted me to say "I heard Shanghai is ending the lockdown soon" and I was like "??? lol no")
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Links
Sixth Tone:
Dining Out, Parks, Travel: Shanghai’s Post Lockdown Wishlist (May 17)
SHINE [ah I will include my standard disclaimer, I don't like SHINE because it's been cranking out nonsense propaganda all through this lockdown, but hey these links are worth reading]:
Zero community transmission in all Shanghai districts (May 17) I guess this is good news, and it's good that the number of new covid cases reported on May 16 was less than 1000, and the number of people in "locked down areas" is less than 1 million (please note, even though we are very much in lockdown, we are not classified as a "locked down area"- we are a "precautionary area"). I guess... honestly I don't care that much about the stats, because they're always making up new things to measure, to make it look like we're totally getting "back to normal"... like what is this "zero community transmission", why do we need this new terminology?
Stranded drivers await the day when they can 'keep on trucking' (May 15)
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