Lockdown Diary: Week 3
Yep we’re still here
Into the third week, and we’re still locked down. More worryingly, the cases are still going up across Shanghai. How come the cases are going up when everyone stays at home all day?
Well that is a good question, and one a lot of people keep asking. Given that most people are only going out to do their tests, there soon becomes an undercurrent of feeling that the tests themselves are inherently risky, and might be the only way that the virus keeps spreading. There may be some truth in this: given the situation, a lot of medical staff were brought into Shanghai with little prior notice and/or training, and are being forced to work very long hours in sanitised suits that prevent breaks or even drinking water. The opportunity for standards to slip are plentiful.
Which leads then to an unusual situation, in that we start hearing of dissent from people against the testing regime. Generally people in China, despite Western expectations, are in favour of the strict policies in this situation. They want to be kept safe. But if the policies are now starting to put people back in harm’s way — particularly when we are being tested every second day, for no clear reason- then people start to push back.
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At the moment it is grumbling and complaining, but I am not sure what would happen if there was a genuine swell of objection. Technically police cannot enter into our compound currently — the quarantine works both ways, no-one can come in as well as no-one leaving — so quite how we could be forced into testing is not clear.
During this week I though am taking a more pragmatic approach; I don’t mind going out for the tests, as it means I can walk around. Technically we are supposed to go left out of our building, take the test, then walk around the back and return to the entrance from the right. But everyone takes the opportunity to get out in the sunshine and put some miles in their legs, let the kids ride their bikes or scooters, and generally try to decompress. Whenever we go out we see some neighbours or playground friends of Keira’s, always giving them a wave from a healthily social distance. Although a couple of times as we walked I found myself looking longingly at the fence, and thinking “I could get over that.” I joked this to a friend of mine and he simply said “sure, but where are you going to go?”
Back at home the group buying continues apace, with various lorries turning up during the day to deposit their wares at the gate and then leave again. Heidi volunteers me to help out on a fruit shipment, again I take the opportunity to get out, even if it means lugging fruit boxes around and sorting out the shipment for the building management to then deliver later. We are now well set for fruit, water, beer (finally!), and even spam — it is considered more of a delicacy in China than elsewhere, and we apparently needed 9 tins of it.
And so we carry on. I keep trying to balance doing some work at home with keeping Keira amused. Everyone else worries about the virus, I worry about Keira jumping off something and hurting herself, but not being able to get to hospital. Everyone seems reasonably well fed, even if the bulk buying means a lot of repetition. The next hurdle will be that people start running out of domestic stuff which will be harder to bulk buy — shampoo, razor blades, toothpaste. I can feel a beard coming on.
Is the route out any clearer? Well officially each compound is looked at individually, that if you can have 14 days clear then you can open again. The trouble for us is that we have around 4000 people in our compound and so every test reveals one or two more cases, so our clock continually resets. The Government have made it clear that this is a battle that has to be won — seemingly regardless of how astronomic the economic, social and mental costs might be — so we might be here for a while longer.
