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)
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Can you believe I am still in lockdown?
Here's the updated timeline:
March 16-21: First lockdown. 6 days.
March 23-now: Second lockdown. 49 days and counting.
Nucleic acid tests (conducted by baymax, ie, the workers in white hazmat suits): 24 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)
Antigen self-tests: 22 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)
(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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Things are basically the same for us
So, we continue to work from home. We continue to let our kid watch a lot of TV. We continue to order food through group buys with neighbors- which means we have plenty of food, but not many options about what specific foods to buy, and not certain when it will be delivered. We continue to spend a few hours every day cooking our own dinner. We continue to get tested every day- about half the time it's self-testing, and half the time a team of doctors comes and we go outside and do the nucleic acid test. We continue to get free groceries from the government every day or two (recently it was rice, milk, kleenexes, and vegetables).
Our complex is a "precautionary area" now (there have not been any covid cases here in the past 14 days) which is the best category to be in, but actually nothing has changed. Okay, 1 change: we're allowed to take walks outside, but only within the complex. We saw some kids playing outside, that's nice.
Supposedly, people in precautionary areas should be allowed to, you know, leave occasionally, but no, we haven't heard anything about that yet. We are still in lockdown, no matter what they decide to call it.
Sometimes I think about how our life used to be, before this lockdown... we used to just be able to do whatever we wanted. Traveling between cities was a bit of a pain, but if we stayed within Shanghai, we could totally go wherever we wanted, and didn't have to worry about covid or covid-related rules or anything.
Thinking about this one time, last year, when I took my cat to a vet to get vaccinated, but when I got there, they didn't have the vaccine that he needed, so I got in a taxi and took him to a different vet. Rushing around at night to make sure I got there before they closed. Like... I don't know why I am thinking about this specific example, it's just like a very mundane everyday thing, like... changing plans on the fly, getting a taxi, checking maps, making sure I have the right paperwork for my cat, going here and there and everywhere to get things done... Like all of these things I used to just do all the time, but now it's so far away from the way we're living.
Hard to even imagine what "normal" life was like. Now we are just home all the time. We cook, we check the group chats to see what's available to buy, we do covid tests whenever the building leaders tell us to... that's basically it.
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Whole buildings getting taken
So there have been situations recently where someone tests positive for covid, and then all the residents of their building are taken to quarantine. I have seen posts on WeChat about it, and also it happened to one of my friends- her whole building was getting taken to a quarantine center, but she contacted her consulate (she is international) and her consulate helped her with how to communicate with the pandemic workers in order to convince them to let her stay at home. She ended up able to stay at home, but all her neighbors got taken.
Like, WTF? This doesn't make any sense, taking all the residents of a building to a quarantine center. Why can't they just quarantine in their homes?
Ugh, so anyway. I've been hearing about this kind of thing happening for a few days now, and then this afternoon the city of Shanghai posted an article on their WeChat that says residents of a building with a covid case are not considered close contacts; they are considered secondary contacts [if they're on the floors immediately above or below the infected person], and don't need to go to centralized quarantine. (But in apartments which share a kitchen or bathroom with other apartments, those residents would be close contacts. This is apparently a common design for older buildings in Shanghai- I've never lived anywhere like that though.) (SHINE posted an English version of this too.)
So... So it seems like this was happening in some places- everyone in a building was being taken to quarantine- but then the higher-level government decided no, we shouldn't do that. I guess? (But even though the city government said that, I wouldn't be surprised if it keeps happening.)
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Disinfecting homes
Also I saw a few videos recently of the baymaxes disinfecting people's homes. I guess after someone tests positive and gets sent to a quarantine center, their home gets disinfected. Which, based on the videos I've seen, means spraying a ton of chemicals everywhere.
Uh...
One of the videos shows the baymaxes throwing away all the food from someone's fridge. And I also heard that a lot of stuff gets damaged just because of the amount of chemicals that's being sprayed on it. And there was one video today from a guy who got back from quarantine and discovered most things in his apartment were gone- his clothes, bed sheets, food, money. Now, it's social media, we don't have any way to fact-check it. We don't even know if he is in Shanghai or not. Still, it's... it's believable. It's very concerning.
Yeah, not cool, damaging people's stuff by spraying all that on it.
So anyway, today the city of Shanghai published an article with guidelines about how the disinfection should work, and the article says that the residents and the pandemic workers should communicate beforehand about if there's anything that needs to be treated more carefully because it could be easily damaged. (SHINE posted an English version too.) I guess they posted that in response to complaints about it. Hopefully that means things will get better, but who knows?
Honestly this whole thing about disinfecting homes doesn't make sense to me- if people are being taken to quarantine, and they're out of their homes for, say, a week or two, the virus can't survive in their home that long anyway, right? Why is it even necessary to go in there and spray stuff at all? There's no way it's safe to have those chemicals all over all the kitchen surfaces and table where people eat.
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| Seriously, look at this. It's like a leafblower blasting chemicals everywhere. Why????? (Screenshot from a video posted on WeChat.) |
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Links
Sixth Tone:
Springtime in Shanghai's 'Precautionary Zones' (May 10) A video about what it's like on the streets, for people who finally get to go out.
Escaping Shanghai’s Lockdown (May 10) "The entire trip cost around 7,000 yuan ($1,040), including a 14-day hotel quarantine bill in Xiamen, Fu said. She added that others who end up renting a car to their final destination had shelled out as much as 20,000 yuan."
Shanghai’s Lockdown Rules Aren’t the Same for Everyone (May 9)
Exhausted Shanghai Volunteer Dies on Duty (May 9)
Shanghai’s Delivery Drivers Describe Life on the Streets (April 18)
SHINE:
[SHINE has posted a lot of bullshit propaganda during this lockdown, so in general we should glare at them suspiciously. These 2 articles are worth reading though.]
How a trip to the local supermarket became such a privileged treat (May 9) Yep, this paints a pretty good picture of how bleak it is here.
Community offers shelter for home-alone fluffy residents (May 9) Good news for pets.
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Next post: Lockdown Diaries: Restrictions on Chinese Citizens Leaving China
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