Items

• 2022-10-14

  HIST30068 China’s Zero Covid Policy Story 1

  On Oct. 14th, my dad went to a nearby town called Huji (in Zhongxiang, Hubei province, China) where there is a factory of the company that he works for. He was supposed to stay there for a week. On the 20th, 2 Huji students and an adult tested positive. The whole Huji town quickly went into a lockdown, and all workers, 2 thousand of them, were to be quarantined right there and then. They must stay inside the factory during the restriction, which would last until cases drop to a certain point. (By the 29th of Oct, there are still no signs of any ease on the lockdown). Food wasn’t a problem, because there was a large canteen in the factory. But there was no accommodation for 2000 workers, only dorm rooms for around 400. My dad had to make quick arrangements for this. Eventually, they bought thousands of mattresses and quilts to make beddings on the floor. These were brought from nearby cities, mainly Jingmen, Jingzhou, and Xiangyang. My dad was able to leave with a friend who had permission, so he hurried back to our home in Jingmen, where he was told by his friend that all travellers from Huji must report themselves and quarantine at home. But as he planned to go to Yichang for another business trip soon, he pretended that he never knew this information. On that day when he was having lunch, he received a call from the pandemic prevention people, politely asking him about his recent travels. He told them that he will be leaving for Yichang immediately, to which they agreed. Then he dropped his chopsticks and drove to Yichang.