{SHANGHAI ~ January – March, 2020}
I haven’t been outside since I left the office for Chinese New Year break – basically 3 full days.
I checked my pantry and there was nothing but a half pack of pasta left. Moreover, I was running out of drinking water. On that Monday I decided to go outside to have breakfast, get some groceries and check-out the overall situation.
I’m well supplied with masks from the bad Shanghai pollution days.
Mask on and ready to go outside.
First thing I noticed walking down my old lane was that all entrances were locked with chains. The only way to get in and out the lane was thru the main gate. And even that was closed. The old guy who used to clean around the lane was now wearing an arm band and controlled who’s going in and out the lane. At 9pm was curfew and the main gate was locked as well with no chance of entering the lane.
I received a “Lane pass” to enter the lane and I was supposed to register every time I go in and out with date, name, phone number and temperature.
The benefit of being the only Westerner in the lane is that everyone anyway knows what I’m doing and therefore they didn’t ask for my pass the whole time.
I made my way towards Baker & Spice on Anfu Lu. Streets were empty. Barely anyone was outside. Almost all shops along the way on WuYuan Lu and Wulumuqi Lu were closed and so was Baker & Spice as well.
In the hope that shopping malls are still open I decided to go to the iapm Mall on Huaihai Lu. Luckily it was open. The mall was only accessible thru one entrance where first my temperature got checked before I was able to enter the mall.
The mall was almost empty. I went down to City Super for some groceries and water and was shocked when I saw the half empty shelves. It didn’t feel good to be outside so I grabbed what I needed and made my way back home.
On Tuesday the government announced that Chinese New Year holiday will be extended to February 10 and offices should remain closed.
The same day IKEA closed all its branches in Shanghai and apple closed all its stores in China.
Also that day I registered myself at the German Consulate in Shanghai. The safest was to stay inside and do everything possible to stop the spread of the virus.
There were 80 cases and 1 fatality in Shanghai when IKEA closed all of its branches. Considering Shanghai is a city with 23 million citizen, the early measures to avoid the spread were incredible. Every place that was still open had to measure temperature and record every single person. Restaurants removed tables and the maximum time to stay was 60min.
Hand sanitizers and masks were sold out within a few days and there were queues – and fights – in front of pharmacies. Later, it was possible to register and get a coupon for 3 masks.
For the following 12 days I only left my apartment once to get groceries and water. The rest I stayed inside.
