Today marks day 17 of not being allowed out of my 50 meter square² apartment unless it’s to be tested for Covid. To be fair, though, I have been tested 20 times since March 16 — all of them negative. This is all just part of China’s Draconian “Zero Covid” policy.
In early March, we began hearing about a handful of cases sprinkled around Shanghai. As a city of 25 million, this isn’t too out of the ordinary as minor “outbreaks” like these have popped up multiple times in the past year.
Since the Covid virus was initially contained, China has adhered to a “Zero Covid” policy meaning that any positive cases are met with immediate and aggressive public health response. Anyone who tests positive is immediately taken to a Covid-only hospital, or quarantine facility if they are asymptomatic. Further, anyone that has had contact or been in the same location (determined via contact tracing) is immediately ordered to home quarantine for 14 days and take multiple tests — any of them positive landing them in the same situation as the initial positive patient. Penalty for failure to quarantine results in being treated to a jail cell for the quarantine period and a hefty fine.
In early March, the handful of cases quickly turned into a few dozen. Health protocols were ramped up around the city — mask requirements strictly enforced, temperature checks to enter any crowded places like malls or supermarkets, and daily checks of health codes which uses contact tracing to produce either a green, yellow, or red code. Also, Shanghai was dropped from a low-risk city to a medium-risk city, making travel in and out of the city fairly difficult.
The Omicron variant proved faster than China’s admittedly super speedy virus control team, and each day we were updated with more and more cases, growing from dozens into the hundreds, and, eventually, the thousands. At this point, we realized that some sort of city-wide lockdowns were on their way, as the Zero Covid policy dictates when cases get this high. My former China hometown of Qingdao was already in their own lockdown.
On March 11, we were told that we would spend the next week working from home. Both the city and my employers advised only going out for necessities over the next week. Many restaurants, bars, and shops were ordered to close up shop for the time being.
For the most part, the city residents stayed in starting that Friday night. Many, myself included, did this out of fear of being locked somewhere we didn’t want to be for a prolonged period of time. This is part of the Zero Covid contact tracing. If they trace someone who tested positive to a certain location, health response teams will shut down that location immediately, with everyone inside stuck there for a minimum of 48 hours. There are stories of people being locked down in shopping malls and supermarkets for days while everyone is tested multiple times. The worst one I heard was the 20 or so people locked inside a KFC for 48 hours. During that time, everyone inside is tested multiple times and every test needs to come back negative for everyone to be released. Needless to say, I sat at home over the weekend and worked from my patio the next week.
On Wednesday, March 16, the testing started. They began testing the entire city in waves. I was told to go to a testing site at a middle school a block away from my apartment complex. After checking my contract tracing ID, they tested me via a cheek swab and told me to come back the next day for the second required test.
Each day, we all watched the covid count still growing. Daily positive tests surpassing 700 at this point. FYI, I know a lot of people reading this are probably screaming that these are fake numbers coming from the Chinese government. While the government almost certainly lies about numbers, it’s most likely done with the really high numbers — once the count is in the thousands. My reason for thinking this is the quick and very public response to any positive test. So, I think these positive test numbers are mostly accurate at this point.
At the end of March, the government announced that the city would be divided in half and each side would do its own four-day complete lockdown. This means no leaving your apartment for any reason, except for government testing, usually conducted every other day. And if you’re thinking, at least you get some time outside, it was usually for about 15 minutes, as the testing was mobile and done right outside of my apartment complex. Also, roughly half of the tests were home tests handed out in the morning, where you have to send a photo of your result.
Pudong (the eastern half of the city) went first and locked down from March 27-31. Living in Puxi (the western half), I would lock down from March 31-April 3. At this point, a few friends wisely suggested loading up for more than four days, thinking that once they locked us down, the four days would be out the window and they’d only allow us out after Covid cases were back in the dozens — we are at about 10,000 new cases a day by this point.
I loaded up as much food and water that I could comfortably store. As I said, I live in a small loft apartment with a tiny kitchen and a dorm-room-sized refrigerator. Shanghai is a lot like Hong Kong in that homes are generally small and stacked to cram in the 25 million people that live here. Many places don’t even have kitchens, as eating out and ordering meals for delivery is so common. By the 31st, every square inch of my fridge and freezer were accounted for and I had my pantry stacked to the gills. Still, it would only be enough food and water for maybe 2-3 weeks.
On the morning of March 31st, they padlocked all the gates to my apartment complex. To almost no one’s surprise, Pudong, who should have been released at this point, were told that their lockdown would continue as new cases were still be discovered there. And, on April 3, they explained the same thing to us. We weren’t getting out. Over the first two weeks, despite the entire city being locked up, cases continued to climb to a high of about 28,000/day on the 14th.
My initial supply of food is almost completely gone. Since all the restaurants and shops are closed, getting more food and supplies is extremely difficult. Apartment complexes and neighborhoods have joined together in massive WeChat group chats to try to order things together in bulk. Every few days, we’re able to land a truckload of meats, fruits, or veggies, that volunteers then have to comb through and create individual boxes based on who ordered what, and there usually isn’t enough to satisfy everyone.
Even dealing with these group chats is difficult because everything is in Chinese. I’ve learned to speak and read a little while I’ve been here, but not enough to follow long group chains. I mostly have to rely on help from my neighbors when I really need supplies. I was able to receive a bulk order of essentials, and my job sent out a care package of 20 pre-cooked meals that I barely was able to make enough room for in my fridge and freezer. Still, food goes much faster than you’d anticipate when you’re forced to eat every meal from home.
Currently, I have enough food and water to get me through another 2-3 weeks. My next worry is trying to get an order together for everyday household supplies. I’m running low on soap, detergent, toothpaste, and toilet paper. Those have been more difficult to get than the food and you often just need to rely on the generosity of neighbors. It’s also tougher because Shanghai has been completely sealed off. The ports are closed as well as the roads into the city, so we are dealing with a finite supply of goods.
Currently, the only ones allowed outside of their apartment gates are essential workers, who mainly consist of medical staff and delivery drivers. Once they are out, though, they can’t get back in, so most of these men and women haven’t been back to their homes since March, instead staying at dedicated hotels. Deliveries are all contactless and guards in hazmat suits stand watch over anyone trying to escape the complex.
To say that this has been stressful is an understatement. Still, even with the challenges of being a foreigner and not speaking the language, I have it better than a lot of people here. For one, I have a kitchen. Many in Shanghai don’t and are now being forced to eat microwavable food as their only warm meals. Several friends have dogs that they aren’t allowed to take outside. I’ve heard about many stir-crazy and depressed pups. There are also the elderly Chinese, many of whom don’t use smart phones so have no way to coordinate food orders with neighbors. I know my complex has tried to look out for the ones we have living with us, but it’s tough to do due diligence when you can’t leave your home. I found out this morning that an elderly couple here had eaten nothing but rice for the past three days because they were out of food. My neighbors promptly put out a call and put together a care package of fruits, vegetables, and meats all donated by people inside the complex.
The worst part of everything is not knowing how long it will go on. Everything is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis. The government has freed roughly a 1/3 of the city, but those are typically in more remote parts of the city, and any positive test results in the lockdowns coming back there. The US Embassy sent out an advisory yesterday that there is a good chance we could continue to be locked down completely till mid-May, which would put a heavy strain on food and supplies. The one thing in our favor is how vital Shanghai is to the Chinese economy, and we are already seeing massive ripple effects across the country just for being shut down for a little over two weeks. But China will not waiver from its Zero Covid policy. It’s already had protracted lockdowns in Qingdao, Xian, Harbin, and even Beijing.
Mentally, it’s been exhausting. Most days, I spend the first couple of hours monitoring the group chats to see if there are any orders I can jump on. I’m still working from home, and responsible for everything I would be doing if I were in the office — no reduced workloads or quotas. Some days are better than others. This week was really tough because I had two good friends die unexpectedly — one in the States and one at his home in Russia. I’d give anything just for a walk around the block at this point.
I try to stay positive, but it’s obviously very difficult. I’ve gotten to know quite a few of my neighbors over WeChat and it’s been nice to talk and try to laugh with them about our shared situation. We’ve all talked about the big barbecue we will have where we can meet everyone face-to-face once this has passed. Hopefully, it gets here soon.
