The leadership insisted Shanghai wouldn’t be locked down, citing its importance. But facing the current situation—or to protect their own reputations—they took a piecemeal approach: first sealing off the area across from Huangpu River, then sealing this side as well.

Lockdown

I have vague memories of SARS from childhood; it ended relatively quickly due to its short incubation period, before a nationwide outbreak occurred. I remember being in elementary school then, dismissed early each day, and the classroom always smelled of disinfectant.

Since the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has been ongoing for nearly three years. People working outside their hometowns have become accustomed to wearing masks when necessary. This wave of the outbreak in Shanghai initially originated from Hong Kong, spreading through cross-border checkpoints to Shenzhen. The situation in Shanghai was also caused by imported cases from Hong Kong. Authorities later announced that the spread was due to inadequate protective measures at quarantine hotels, allowing a variant with weakened toxicity but faster transmission—spread via the hotel’s ventilation system—to proliferate. Initially, it wasn’t severe and could have been contained.

People are always confident. The leaders in Shanghai are the same. They chose a risk control system we can implement with grid-based management and precise monitoring.

The results are clear – the new cases have exceeded 20,000. Faced with this situation, a lockdown was implemented, but it’s being referred to using different terminology to avoid using the word “lockdown,” as that contradicts earlier statements claiming Shanghai did not need one, preserving face for the authorities.

Grocery shopping

The food delivery industry is a new sector spurred by the internet. Its core requirement is someone to deliver your order, but due to widespread lockdowns, businesses could operate, yet lacked delivery personnel – essentially missing a crucial link in the process. Outsiders might find it puzzling that people in a global city like Shanghai would rush to buy groceries en masse. However, it’s quite understandable; most residents are migrant workers living in rented apartments and typically rely on company canteens or restaurants instead of cooking at home. When these options were unavailable, those who could afford it started buying groceries. Because the lockdown announcement was unexpected, people lacked substantial food and vegetable reserves. This led to the rush seen in videos, which in turn caused gatherings that directly contributed to renewed spread of the virus.

Industry

Everyone I know works in the IT industry. The pandemic gave me a taste of working from home – back in 2019, I was stuck at home for almost a month, rescheduling train tickets countless times, unable to determine when I could return to Shenzhen. It’s unimaginable what people in the food, tourism, and service industries have been through these past few years.