Well I’m sure many have captured that Shanghai has been under restriction due to a rise in covid cases in the last 5-6 weeks.
Traveling Short Distances
The lockdown has meant that we have not been able to leave our homes except to carry out PCR testing within the compound- this means no traveling to work, schools, shops, parks etc. Certainly you can attend hospitals for urgent appointments but generally the city is essentially closed. The streets have been eerily quiet for several weeks except for the sound of nature and ambulances. No pedestrians, no cyclists, no kids playing.. an unusual silence but also a ‘sound’ one can easily become accustomed to. In some ways time felt like it had stopped. The days morphed into one another and the weeks moved swiftly forward at warp speed so much so- that a month passed by in the blink of an eye.. it started in March/April and in a few days it will be May!
Community Chipping In
Doctors and community helpers come to organize residents to do their testing at designated intervals with an amazing amount of order and attention.
Delivery logistics 
Local cleaning 
Community ’Family’
Our community has an Italian guy who speaks Chinese and English who is a resident and a volunteer who is on hand to help answer questions to make the process less more smooth particularly for the non-Chinese speakers. The altruistic volunteers carefully took turns to deliver food to each resident’s doors- anytime of day or night- after they had been disinfected at the gate by the guards. The more vulnerable members of the community are given special attention to ensure they had enough medication and food supplies. The government supplied food by means of vegetables, fruits and important necessities to ensure a basic standard of living was meant which was wholly welcomed for many in this unexpected development.
I must say our neighbors have been wonderful- too many to mention such as Alice and a numerous others who have all helped to coordinate food orderings and explain how the now famous ’group buys’ work, which has become symbolic of how to obtain food by ways of multiple members signing up to buy food- usually of one type e.g eggs, or an assortment of bread, fruits etc. The aim was to partly prevent the need for multiple individuals buying food thus reducing the contacts and therefore transmission risk of covid/omicron. But also many shops had been closed and only certain companies had permission to sell but in bulk only.
Resident’s Support System
We have community equivalent ’messaging’ groups to exchange healthy moans and groans as well as words of support for the young, old and active.
Although the lockdown is inconvenient and has been challenging, there has also been a growth in community spirit that has made the situation 100 times more bearable.
Most of us were busying ourselves by creating new and interesting meals with local vegetables I would have never cooked with before! The kids got to manage quite well with less snacks! We became more inventive with home exercises and building towers with empty cereal boxes and water bottles! This mixed in with doing some work from home has really helped the time pass.
We’re all looking forward to the resolution so at least I can get back to my Starbucks Oat Milk Latte (or Manner- my other favourite local brand) after so much effort and ambition to keep us all safe!
Onwards & upwards Shanghai!!!
