Day 47 of our Shanghai Covid lockdown and we woke up, like we often do, to a man in a hazmat suit downstairs yelling through a bull horn for us to come down for our tests
While checking our phones for the new test QR code, we also saw this alarming new official notice sent to us
The key points are:
1) We must stay inside our apartment and not leave our front door, except for going downstairs for testing
This was not a change for us, and it was a little strange to see it reiterated again
2) All deliveries are prohibited during the weekend (Friday midnight to Sunday midnight); nothing will be allowed in
No food
No water
Nothing
So we are encouraged to cancel all deliveries and ask for refunds because nothing that is delivered to the community gates will come in
There was a lot of pushback about this from everyone around and eventually some of the government people and property management people said that they “might” arrange for some group purchases but it would be difficult, and that’s when we found out why
(Not confirmed by me directly but from a neighbor, who also shared a photo that seems legitimate)
It seems that barriers have been set up that are blocking the roads for several streets around us, so the delivery drivers can’t even make it to the gates of our apartment community
That reasoning seems clear - deliveries are halted because the roads are closed
Of course, I’m not allowed to leave my front door, let alone our apartment community gates, in order to verify that
The result of the new announcement and the new street barricades is that we are locked down in Shanghai, not allowed to leave our apartment door (except for going downstairs to do Covid tests), and are also not allowed to get any deliveries of food, or drinking water, or anything
They sent the announcement on Friday morning to go into effect at midnight, and from my understanding this applies not just to our apartments but to many in the area
Panic buying and hoarding started immediately, of course, and all same day deliveries were instantly fully booked
This was a shock for us because cases had been improving steadily recently
Yesterday, there were only 23 new cases identified outside of the quarantine zones
Fortunately for many of us in the area, deliveries had been improving this week and we were able to restock some of our pantries
I was even fortunate enough to get a delivery of some hot sauces and other key condiments today at 10 pm, just before the cutoff!
Thanks @epermarket!
Back to this morning, we went down for the testing because it seemed like another mandatory day where they really push you to do the testing (some days it feels more like a suggestion)
Their new method is to first do a home antigen test (four for us) and then, if negative, bring the plastic test pieces down with you to do the PCR test
They check the antigen test downstairs and take it from you, which seems like a better system to avoid fraud or tampering
What I didn’t anticipate, when I put all 4 in my pocket, was that our fresh antigen tests still had some of the liquid left in the little dropper area
Which of course leaked through my pocket to the front of my shorts by the time we were downstairs, not a particularly good look
I’ve heard from friends in other parts of the city that their areas are actually opening up, although most businesses and stores are still closed there
It’s always important to note that Shanghai is a big city and the circumstances vary significantly from one place to another
The only hope for us here is that this is one last hard lockdown as a final measure to test and cut off the spread of the virus
We have some hope that this new hard lockdown is only for 2 days, but then again, that’s exactly what they told us for the general lockdown 47 days ago
The other big topic of conversation for the apartment community today was mosquitoes
All of our normal maintenance has been suspended for a long time, including pest control for nature’s most obnoxious creation, which has resulted in a big increase in mosquitoes
That of course led to a big discussion about whether Covid can be spread through mosquitoes and then, just moments ago (around midnight), we got this delivery from the building management group - they are occasionally efficient after all…
The results of our Shanghai Covid PCR tests were just published from the test this morning
We are negative
We are negative again
We are negative again for 40+ consecutive negative tests during this lockdown where we are trapped in our homes, not allowed to leave…
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Every day this week we have been called downstairs for a PCR test
Most neighbors have refused - we did too - and instead demand a home test
Some days, the neighborhood committee is insistent that everyone do the PCR test - usually to align with city wide testing requirements
It seems to have created a situation where going down to do PCR tests are optional (most days), or are required (days when the city-wide government requires it).
When required, we have gone down to do the tests.
We must be close to 40 consecutive negative tests at this point.
Following a moment of inspiration, we started a broth/stock group in our apartment community
People who have veggies which are nearing the time of being beyond the point you would normally use them, but which are still good, can give them instead of throwing them away
They can leave them any time before 3 pm outside our door
And we will use the good ones to make a soup broth so that they don’t go to waste
Unbelievably, the newly identified Covid cases in Shanghai increased yesterday
Adding to that trend, friends in several areas reported new cases in apartment buildings and communities that have been under strict lockdown for weeks
2 people in our apartment community tested positive
1 has recovered during their time in central quarantine, and has come back home for a monitoring period
A few people in our apartment community were unhappy about a Covid patient coming back here, but most were supportive and the security guards let that person in
I’m sure he or she is very happy to be home
The conditions in the central quarantine areas are pretty bad from all of the first-hand information that I have seen and heard
This week it was raining in Shanghai for several days and we saw many videos of temporary central quarantine areas that were leaking rain in rooms
Today, the new policy went into effect that classifies each house/apartment community into three categories according to the risk level
We were classified as the highest risk level
We are in the “locked down” tier, with the highest restrictions
The best case scenario is that we can’t leave our apartment door for the next week, then are allowed out of our door, but not our community, for another week
If we’re lucky during the next 2 weeks, with no new positive cases close to us, we will have our risk level downgraded to “precautionary”, which means we can leave our community, but must still adhere to restrictions, and can be changed back to “locked down” if there’s a positive