Shanghai Snippets – The Front Line Report on April 10th

Dealing with the Shanghai New Normal

1) Deportation exemptions in question?

The sands are once again shifting. In our last post we mentioned four cases qualifying for an exception to deportation orders:

• Households which include foreigners

• Households which include children under 2

• Households which include elderly over 80

• Households with a special medical situation, such as people convalescing after major surgery

This information was valid to our knowledge as of April 8th, based on information obtained from neighborhood committee sources. At the time this was already at least the second iteration. In the first iteration the age cutoff was 65, but that was quickly retracted as being too lenient.

Today the exception for medical conditions was at least partially retracted. We will explain this word ‘partially’ in a moment. The status of the other three exceptions is unclear. They may or may not still be intact. No doubt many people applied for exemptions. Probably too many. So the Commissar said no. To defeat the virus sacrifices must be made - by others of course.

The neighbor committee staff seem to have been read the riot act (被教育了), because their attitude was completely different from yesterday.

Instead of an outright retraction, today bizarrely several people threatened with deportation received calls in which they were asked to “agree” to being deported, for their own safety and the safety of their neighbors. In two cases the “policeman” on the line lied by claiming that the “other neighbors” had already agreed. Devious and bizarre. The other standard threat seems to be that if you do not agree, “your QR code will be red forever.”

2) Panic extending to other areas?

Many areas around China are responding to events in Shanghai by attempting to cut themselves off from the outside world, blocking motorway exit ramps. A glance at Gaode Maps (高德地图) shows closed ramps everywhere. This could lead to a complete breakdown of national supply chains.

3) Camps overflowing.

Covid camps stuffed with extra beds in the aisles

Many people have been picked up and then delivered to temporary holding areas. On Saturday night two people we know indirectly were locked up overnight together with 900 other people in elementary school classrooms. No beds were provided. Today they were loaded onto a fleet of buses and driven to several camps. All camps were full and none would take them. It’s unclear what their current status is. Another group of 19 people was picked up on Friday and returned back to their homes the next day.

Here is an inside report from the above pictured camp from one of our readers: Thanks Haley for sharing: https://www.anonigviewer.com/profile.php?u=yoko_ohno_

4) Government buying up massive numbers of beds.

With ~23,000 new cases each day and at least that many close contacts, the space requirements are enormous and increasing exponentially every day. Various government agencies are desperately trying to buy up additional temporary beds. Their budget per bed: 150 RMB. At that price beds do exist, but only of the absolute worst type.

5) Legal situation for people threatened with deportation:

If threatened with deportation, it is our understanding that your best chance is by simply standing your ground and refusing to agree to be taken to the camps. As long as you do not break quarantine and stay at home, you have committed no crime. This is not legal advice, but if you choose to follow this route, DO NOT AGREE TO BE DEPORTED AND KEEP YOUR DOORS LOCKED. If you can produce a negative antibody test, say so and use this as an excuse. You can also cite the stories about people being sent to elementary school classrooms. The people in the white suits have no answer to a locked door, and it is our understanding that the police are highly unlikely to be willing to risk infection or “close contact” status by forcibly entering into a physical conflict with an infected person. The policies are shifting all the time so time is on your side.

6) Updated criteria for exiting camps:

According to one of our readers, the current guideline for release from the camps has been reduced from four consecutive negative tests to only two. “Negative” means two scores of 35 or more cycles for both of the gene snippets tested. If your antibody test is negative you probably have a good chance of passing the PCR test.

A situation update for April 12th is available here.