SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) – Tensions from the blockade have exposed divisions among Shanghai residents, pitting young people against old people, locals against outsiders and, above all, COVID-negative people against COVID-positive people.
The 25 million people in Shanghai, most of whom live in apartment blocks, forged new utilities during the city’s coronavirus epidemic through barter and group purchasing and the creation of food-sharing stations.
But without seeing the end of the blockade, which for some lasted four weeks, frustrations are also growing behind the closed gates of the city towers, which are often played out in WeChat newsgroups.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
One conflict erupted when a woman who had been taken into centralized quarantine – where she was negative – accused her neighbor of reporting her to authorities.
It is not uncommon for test results to be shared and positive cases to be reported when building groups in WeChat, as authorities have been trying to deal with China’s largest outbreak since the virus was first identified in Wuhan in late March. 2019
A U.S. citizen was told she would be sent to a quarantine center after a mixed test, including hers, tested positive last week. Three others whose samples were in the batch have been quarantined, but her own tests at home remain negative.
“In the group chats, they said things like, ‘Oh, are the positive people still here, are the positive people still here?'” She said, declining to give her name.
Older residents who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 are also more likely to call for the immediate expulsion of positive cases from their place.
“Because of the media’s exaggeration about the disease, and because older people have weaker immune systems, they are more afraid of the virus than young people,” said a resident who has seen it happen.
Another foreigner, who only wanted to be identified as Alexi, was suspected by neighbors of being positive for COVID when his test result failed to be uploaded to his health app.
The management of his building tried to block the supply of food to his family, unless they share the results of home tests with other residents – a request that several Shanghai residents say is widespread and violates privacy.
“They have no guidelines and the services of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) are overloaded,” he said. “They felt invested in the most important mission of their lives, to be able to play doctor, policeman and judge at the same time.
CONCLUDED
Some people were denied entry into their homes and ordered to stay in hotels after being released from central quarantine, in violation of state regulations.
Another foreigner who tested positive said she was locked in her apartment and not sent to central quarantine, much to the disappointment of her neighbors, who asked her to leave, trying to exclude her from group orders for groceries and even asked her to make a formal apology.
One neighbor called her “foreign garbage,” while another spread lies about her mental health and the housing committee did not help, she said.
“I saw screenshots telling residents to keep calling to get me out,” she said, adding that she would move out as soon as she could.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
Report by David Stanway, Josh Horwitz, Andrew Galbraith, Engen Tam and the Shanghai Editorial Office; Edited by Stephen Coates
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.
Add Comment