Shanghai’s 25 million people, most of them living in apartment buildings, have forged new community ties during the city’s coronavirus epidemic through barter and group shopping and food sharing. But without finally appearing in a lockdown that for some lasted four weeks, frustrations are also growing behind the closed gates of city apartment buildings, often playing in WeChat messaging groups. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register In one, the conflict erupted when a woman who had been taken to a central quarantine – where the test was negative – accused her neighbor of reporting her to the authorities. It is not uncommon for test results to be announced and positive cases to be reported during the creation of WeChat teams, as authorities try to deal with China’s largest outbreak since the virus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019. A U.S. citizen was informed she would be taken to a quarantine center after the results of a mixed test, including her own, were positive last week, causing panic. Three others whose samples were in the batch were quarantined, but her own home tests continued to be negative. “In group conversations, they used to say things like, ‘Oh, are the positive people still here, are the positive people still here?’” She said, refusing to give her name. Older residents, more vulnerable to COVID-19, were also more likely to request immediate removal of positive cases from their area. “Because of the media exaggeration about the disease and because older people have a weaker immune system, they are more afraid of the virus than young people,” said one resident who had seen it happen. Another resident, who only wanted to be identified as Alexy, was suspected by neighbors of being positive for COVID-19 when his test result failed to improve his health. The building’s management tried to block his family’s food deliveries unless they shared the results of the home tests with other residents – a requirement that many Shanghai residents say is widespread and violates privacy. “They have no guidelines and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) services have been flooded,” he said. “They felt they had invested in the most important mission of their lives, to be able to play doctor, policeman and judge at the same time.” LOCKED OUT Some people were barred from entering their homes and ordered to stay in hotels after being released from central quarantine, in violation of state regulations. Another foreign resident who tested positive said that she was confined to her apartment instead of being sent to a central quarantine, much to the disappointment of her neighbors, who asked her to leave, tried to exclude her from group grocery orders and even apologized formally. One neighbor called her “foreign rubbish” 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,” he said, adding that he would leave as soon as possible. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reports from David Stanway, Josh Horwitz, Andrew Galbraith, Engen Tham and the Shanghai newsroom. Edited by Stephen Coates Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
