China's zero-Covid regime: My home quarantine experience in Beijing

26 Oct 2021
society
Yang Danxu
Beijing Correspondent, Lianhe Zaobao
Translated by Grace Chong, Candice Chan
Zaobao's Beijing correspondent Yang Danxu experienced a 14-day home quarantine for being in the vicinity of Covid-19 patients while in Gansu. From her first-hand experience, she observes that people at large have gotten used to and even expect sudden but orderly disruptions when outbreaks erupt and are stamped out under a zero-Covid regime. But as borders start opening around the world, will China be forced to open up to new mindsets of living with the virus?
A medical worker collects a swab from a person at a nucleic acid testing site at a park, following new cases of the coronavirus disease, in Beijing, China, 6 August 2021. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

Recently I was in Gansu reporting on the Shenzhou 13 spaceflight mission. A day after I returned to Beijing, I received a message from the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control asking me to report to them.

I recalled that a couple who had recently toured Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi had contracted Covid-19. The counties and cities they went to and the Jiayuguan Airport they had used were all places that I had visited.   

This was my first time coming into contact with Covid-19-positive people since the pandemic occurred. Was I considered a close contact? Would I be strictly monitored? Would my health code now flash red, and would that affect my movements in Beijing? Endless questions popped into my mind and I was feeling a little uneasy.

People take part in a ceremony before the launch of the Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, 15 October 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Knowing that China has always been strict about its Covid-19 containment measures, I decided to take a nucleic acid amplification test at a nearby clinic immediately and report to the residential area I live in.  

Although there were only a few cases scattered here and there, this wave of infections spread very quickly. As of 23 October, there were a total of 133 confirmed cases across Shaanxi, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Hunan, Guizhou, Beijing and other regions.   

Everything from the signing of the undertaking on home quarantine, arranging for nucleic acid amplification tests at my home, to booking an appointment for home environment monitoring and deep cleaning took place in an orderly manner. 

On the afternoon of 19 October, community staff called me to get acquainted with my situation. I was told that Beijing had already started screening people with recent travel histories to Shaanxi, Gansu and so on. I would be placed under a 14-day home quarantine and a seven-day health monitoring programme. I was to return home as soon as possible after making the necessary work arrangements.   

After that, I was added to a WeChat chat group that included community staff and community health service centre staff. Everything from the signing of the undertaking on home quarantine, arranging for nucleic acid amplification tests at my home, to booking an appointment for home environment monitoring and deep cleaning took place in an orderly manner. 

Medical workers in protective suits enter a residential compound under lockdown for nucleic acid testing following new cases of the coronavirus disease in Changsha, Hunan province, China, 4 August 2021. (CNS photo via Reuters)

What would happen to my meals during this period of self-isolation? Community staff explained that I could order meals or fresh goods online, and have the delivery man leave them at my doorstep.   

How would I throw rubbish without stepping out of my house? Community staff would contact my residential area's property management department and the latter would arrange a regular garbage pickup. I would only need to leave the garbage bags at my doorstep.

A sensor would also be attached to my door, so that community staff would be notified each time it opened or closed. But I was assured that this would not affect me opening the door to collect my meals and parcels. I would also need to take my temperature twice a day and keep the WeChat chat group apprised of my health condition.  

A population sensitised to quarantines and Covid tests

After answering my questions, the staff said over the phone, "You can let us know of your needs in the WeChat chat group and we will try our best to meet them." He even consoled me, "Fourteen days will go by in a flash."   

And just like that, I began my first quarantine experience since the pandemic occurred. Colleagues who were on the same work trip as me also received orders from the community at around the same time as me.

Compared to other countries, the Chinese people are more willing to abide by strict control measures and accept the inconvenience to their daily lives. At the same time, their desire for zero-Covid is much higher than in other countries, which puts greater pressure on the authorities.

Travellers arrive at a train station ahead of China's Golden Week holiday, in Beijing, China, 29 September 2021. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Someone joked that in half a day, they had been "assaulted by calls from everywhere", while an "experienced" Chinese colleague shared in the group that on her return to Beijing, she took extra care to self-isolate and did not come into contact with her family members, so that they would not have to be quarantined too.

It can be seen that after nearly two years of the pandemic and repeatedly clamping down on various outbreaks, the Chinese authorities have developed a comprehensive and sophisticated process to handle the pandemic. On their part, the Chinese have adjusted to a new way of life and can calmly handle sudden outbreaks and quarantine requirements. They know how to minimise the impact of outbreak measures on their daily lives, but once they cannot avoid being affected, they accept it with equanimity.

Compared to other countries, the Chinese people are more willing to abide by strict control measures and accept the inconvenience to their daily lives. At the same time, their desire for zero-Covid is much higher than in other countries, which puts greater pressure on the authorities. In particular, local officials in places where there are outbreaks will think of everything they can to quickly eliminate the virus.

A health worker takes a nucleic acid sample to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus as passengers arrive at the train station in Zhuhai, in southern China's Guangdong province on 27 September 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP)

When this current outbreak first started, there was a story of a Covid-positive couple from Xi'an in Shaanxi who ignored the test results and went sightseeing, only to be lambasted online. Xi'an netizens were furious and blamed the failure to contain the coronavirus on Jiayuguan city, where the couple had stayed before arriving in Xi'an, with many calls for accountability. It is clear that the Chinese public's tolerance for the virus is lower than in other countries.

Will Chinese mindsets change fast enough?

With rising vaccination rates, many countries have adjusted their previous zero-Covid approach. In Singapore, for example, the authorities have shifted from the initial strategy of eliminating the virus to a policy of living with the virus, and are trying to balance opening the economy with controlling the virus.

In comparison, China is still insisting on zero-Covid. It is generally felt that China will not loosen border controls before the Beijing Winter Olympics in February next year; it is even possible that the strict measures will extend until after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s 20th Party Congress in autumn next year.

Health workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) stand at the entrance to the Legendale Hotel in the Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing on 29 July 2021, after China reported virus outbreaks in three cities, including the capital. (Noel Celis/AFP)

The Chinese authorities' success in controlling the virus has to some extent increased the expectations of the Chinese people in achieving zero-Covid. As long as there are outbreaks, panic and anxiety spreads in the community, which is probably also a challenge for the authorities in "switching tracks" in their control measures. However, as more countries abandon zero-Covid and open up borders, forming an international "new normal" outside of China, will China be able to continue sticking to zero-Covid? As it becomes increasingly urgent to switch tracks, can the Chinese change their mindsets in time?

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