Shanghai

A bed with a paper-thin mattress in a Shanghai COVID-19 quarantine facility. Photo: Demi Brodie.

South African teacher in Shanghai details life in a COVID-19 camp

The arduous nature of Shanghai’s ‘quarantine camps’ has been documented by a South African teacher currently trapped in the city’s ‘extreme lockdown’.

Shanghai

A bed with a paper-thin mattress in a Shanghai COVID-19 quarantine facility. Photo: Demi Brodie.

Demi Brodie*, a South African woman living in Shanghai, recently had to endure life in a centralised quarantine facility after she tested positive for COVID-19 in the Chinese city of 25 million people, which is under an extremely strict lockdown.

READ:

DEMI UNABLE TO REACH SHANGHAI CONSULATE AFTER TESTING POSITIVE

Brodie moved to Shanghai in 2018 and currently works as a Grade 1 teacher at an American International School.

For the last month, she and many of Shanghai’s residents have been stuck indoors under lockdown. People’s movement and access to necessities have been restrained by the Chinese government’s zero-COVID policy, which seeks to completely eradicate the disease before normal life can continue.

Demi said she first tested positive for COVID-19 with an antigen test on 13 or 14 April. People who test positive for the disease are removed from their homes and taken to designated quarantine sites where they remain until they test negative for the disease twice.

A South African petition circulating online and a letter sent to the SA Consulate in Shanghai seeks consular intervention for people who test positive in the form of the following:

  • A clear line of contact for South African Citizens to get in touch with the Consulate or Embassy for individuals who confirmed positive.
  • A procedure to follow if an individual has been confirmed positive.
  • The Consulate/Embassy request the individual be home-quarantined and if that is not possible, taken to a facility that has a decent standard of sanitation and living conditions, medical staff that are able to communicate in English and an adequate amount of privacy, for those who will still be required to work during this period.’

Brodie said she was unable to reach the consulate during the period between testing positive and being picked up at home by the Chinese CDC and police.

“Other ex-pats have been able to get their consulate to write an official letter to negotiate home quarantine with their neighborhood committee. I was unable to reach the Consulate during this period and therefore received absolutely no support,” said the teacher.

“On the first call to the emergency number a woman answered and said ‘how can I help you’. After I told her my situation she kept saying ‘I can’t hear you, hello, hello?’ And then put the phone down. I called her back roughly 3/4 times and the number was no longer in service.”

She said she had no idea what to do after she received the call from the CDC but decided against phoning the consulate. A friend also reportedly attempted to call on her behalf and was told that Brodie was “in their prayers.”

“I then emailed the consulate my details and I got an automated response saying that they were ‘out of office’ for reference we are all ‘out of office’ as we have been in hard lockdown since before April 1st but we have not stopped working online,” said Brodie.

In a letter sent to South Africans in Shanghai on 16 April, Consul General Mpho Hlahla said her offices were shut down on 14 March 2022 because of the current COVID-19 control measures.

“As a result, our operations are severely affected. We are unable to provide full services as expected,” wrote the Consul General.

In response to previous queries, DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela said consulate staff were working from home and unable to move from where they live.

LIFE IN COVID CAMP IS ‘DEPRESSING’

Brodie ended up in a so-called COVID camp on 18 April. She is not 100% sure where it is– the CDC does not disclose the location – but believes it is somewhere in North JingAn.

“Day to day life here is very depressing and discouraging. We are fed three times a day. Breakfast at around 6:30-7:00 am it is brought to our cubicle by a volunteer,” she said.

“We are lucky enough to have portable showers and toilets but I have yet to have a warm shower although there is hot water at the sinks where we can brush our teeth and wash our faces.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone offering medical care but they do drop off Traditional Chinese Medicine in the form of a tea, almost every day.”

According to Brodie, the camp is clean in comparison to other places she’s seen and it is “somewhat organised.” It appears to be an abandoned warehouse, which is currently holding hundreds of people. The lights remain on throughout the night – making it very difficult to sleep – but at least they have an outside area, she added.

CONTACT IS FINALLY MADE

Brodie said an unknown woman eventually reached out to her on 21 April – four days after she arrived at the camp – after the South African petition was circulated and other people phoned the consulate.

“She said that I must ‘keep faith’ and that everyone is in this lockdown. I said that they need to be more hands-on, she said that ‘how are we supposed to know when there are positive cases?’,” said Brodie, recounting the phone call.

The South African teacher said she told the person on the phone about the lengths she had gone through to get her information to the South African government and receive support from them.

“She was not helpful at all but I had also received an email about 20 minutes before to say that they noted my case. Far too many days late in my opinion,” said Brodie.

Brodie said she also needed support from the consulate on Thursday because she was not being tested. She had received a negative PCR test on the previous day and needed one more before she could leave.

“I chose to not contact them because I have lost all confidence in them and so I rather chose to contact my school HR to help me get tested so that I can receive my second negative test and hope to get out of here.”

SOUTH AFRICANS IN SHANGHAI ARE FED UP

Brodie said she is in contact with hundreds of other South Africans in Shanghai via a social WeChat group, which is used to organise braais and other activities.

She said she thinks South Africans are fed up and many were concerned about her ordeal and were very supportive.

“We are disappointed and concerned by how little support we have received and how much it took to get any response out of the South African consulate here in Shanghai,” said Brodie.

As of 22 April, Brodie is still in the camp.