Thread by @jpak25

Wild WeChat conversation among a group of #Shanghai friends within the last 48 hours. They went for dinner, then to a karaoke bar. Got a private room with a vintage mic stand to belt out tunes. Snacked on popcorn and seaweed. So happy to see them go out, UNTIL #COVIDZero

Next morning friend #1 forwarded a message from another friend: "Dear friends who dined with me 2 days ago, I've received a call from the track and trace team. They said a #COVID case passed through the restaurant. I'm not sure if we overlapped with that person." #COVIDZero

This is NOT the same restaurant as my group of friends went to last night BUT IF friend #1 is deemed as a close contact, then the rest of our friends at the karaoke bar yesterday would be considered secondary contacts. That means quarantine for all. #COVIDZero

Friend #1's friend was told by the track and trace team that the COVID patient might have "brushed" past the restaurant they were at. "What kind of joke is this?" friend #1 said. #COVIDZero

Friend #1's friend is not told date and time the COVID case "brushed" past the restaurant. Instead, she's asked to provide a list of names and cell numbers of those at the dinner two nights ago PLUS form a WeChat group for those involved. The friend refused. #COVIDZero

My friends are outraged because we are forced to leave a digital trace everywhere. We must scan our health QR codes at every venue. Plus, our cell phones are tied to our IDs and can be easily traced. "Can't the team track and trace by themselves?" says friend #2 #COVIDZero

Friend #1's friend has now been deemed a secondary contact. Meaning: quarantine at home for 7 days (starting tomorrow). External lock placed on her door. Just in case she manages to pop out, her health code is now red, so she really can't get into any place. #covidzero

Update: Friend #1's friend receives a follow up call from the track and trace team. Now she's been registered as having been to a DIFFERENT restaurant from Friend #1, but where a COVID case also passed through. The friend denies she's ever been to that location. #COVIDZero

Friend #1's friend complained to her communist neighborhood committee, various levels of government, to no avail. That's the frustrating part of #COVIDzero, there is no proper appeal system.

Friend #1 still hasn't been contacted by the track and trace team. But my friends are worried. They've canceled social events for the week, not that they went out much. Life in #Shanghai now can be even more unpredictable than during the 2-month lockdown #COVIDzero

Latest: friend #1’s friend has been told her 7-day home quarantine will now be done in a centralized quarantine facility because she’s a close contact (not a secondary one). The friend insists she never went to that restaurant. She was at home on the day in question #COVIDZero

Friend #2: “That’s just ridiculous. But now that you’ve said it, I believe it. Something like this could happen.” I’ve heard this more from my friends, especially Chinese nationals, after experiencing the 2-month #shanghai lockdown #covidzero

Fiend #1’s friend is refusing to go to central quarantine because the facilities are sometimes in poor conditions, usually no showers. If she shares space with a large group of people, and one gets infected, she risks catching COVID and having her Q time extended #COVIDZero

Meantime, the authorities have sent a young man to “guard” her entrance. He’s on a chair on the stairwell outside her door (yes a fire hazard), playing video games on his cell phone. #covidzero

Friend #3 has a friend who got called up and was supposed to be sent to central quarantine but because those are full at the moment she couldn't go. Likely related to an asymptomatic case who went to a few bars Oct 2nd #covidzero

Then my friends discuss how other countries rely on COVID + people to self report and self isolate, which sounds other worldly at the moment for my friends in China. "Catching COVID [here] is treated like a crime now, who wouldn't be afraid," one of them says. #1 #covidzero