Shanghai returns to “precise prevention and control” nucleic acid testing will be charged (picture)

Nucleic acid sampling site in Shanghai (Image source: Hugo Hu)

[See China, June 7, 2022]Recently, Shanghai has returned to the “precise prevention and control” mode of the new crown epidemic that was implemented in March this year. Whenever there is a positive infection in Xuhui, Hongkou, Jing’an and other places, the authorities Residential areas are closed. Another resident learned that starting from July 1, residents will pay for nucleic acid testing at their own expense, and each time will cost about 20 yuan.

In the past day, Chinese officials announced 171 new cases of the new crown across the country, including 31 confirmed cases and 140 asymptomatic infections. Among them, there are 25 local cases, including 16 cases in Inner Mongolia, 5 cases in Beijing, and 4 cases in Shanghai; there are 6 cases imported from abroad, distributed in Fujian, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi.

In Shanghai, where the six-day “city closure” ended, videos and pictures of closed residential areas have been circulated from time to time. A netizen posted a video saying that at the intersection of Changle Road and Shaanxi Road in Xuhui District, a large residential area was sealed off. In another video, the scene of blocking the community also appeared:

Resident: “Huangpu District and Jinxian Road broke out again. I just came back and saw that it was blocked again. The whole Jinxian Road was blocked again. It’s too scary.”

Shanghai’s city-wide closure and control changes to “precise prevention and control”

In the third video, epidemic prevention personnel are building hoardings and barbed wire. Some residents negotiated with each other to prevent the closure of the community: “We are not an epidemic area, we do not need to block and control!”

At present, Shanghai has returned to the state of “precise prevention and control” before March this year. Ms. Wang, a Shanghai resident, told this reporter on Monday (6th) that the local blockade has recently started: “There is another positive case in Hongkou, and it is said that people from a community have been taken away and sent to the makeshift hospital. I am here. There is a close contact in the community, and the bus took the people in the building to the makeshift hospital.”

Shanghai resident Ms. Chang told this station that the epidemic in Shanghai has not disappeared, and it will still take time to fully lift the lockdown: “It can only be said that some of the lockdowns have been lifted, and some have not yet returned to normal.”

What worries Shanghai residents the most is that the so-called normalized nucleic acid testing requires long queues, but not everyone can wait for nucleic acid testing. Some residents said that in the past, many people were infected while waiting for nucleic acid tests. Once they missed the nucleic acid test, they would not be able to go anywhere.

Resident Ms. Wang said to this station: “There are nucleic acid testing booths at the entrance of our community, saying that we need to show a 48-hour nucleic acid certificate. If you did nucleic acid last night, you can go out to do things today.”

Ms. Ma, a Shanghai resident, said that queuing up to do nucleic acid has become the most troublesome thing for Shanghai residents: “If the normalization of nucleic acid has always existed, it will be a sword hanging over the people’s heads. No matter where you go, if you don’t have 48 hours or 72 hours of nucleic acid proof, you will not be able to move. This means that you have to do it every day, because the time is calculated from the sampling time, and the report is usually released the next day, which has added a lot of trouble to the people and caused a sense of psychological fear. ”

From July 1st, a self-funded nucleic acid test will be charged 20 yuan a time

The Shanghai Leading Group Office for Epidemic Prevention and Control announced that from 0:00 on Monday (June 6), people entering public places and taking public transportation, in addition to holding a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 72 hours, only need to have 24 hours Proof of nucleic acid sampling (without waiting for results) can also travel. However, residents began to worry that the new measure implemented from July 1 is to do nucleic acid at their own expense. It is said that each person will be charged about 20 yuan per time. Many people are dissatisfied that the official nucleic acid testing fee has to be paid by the common people.

Ms. Ma said: “We are constantly queuing up to do nucleic acid testing. Now, once they are found to be positive, they will be tossed, quarantined and closed. The prevention and control measures of this epidemic are a disaster for the people. This nucleic acid production is a tool for making money. We have to let the common people pay their own money. How can common people have so much money to pay for themselves! It’s going to be done every two days, like 20 yuan a time. I don’t know the specifics, and the specific charges have not been disclosed yet. Why do they do this?”

Shanghainese fear nucleic acid suffers from “nucleic acid anxiety”

In recent days, many netizens have criticized the Shanghai government’s anti-epidemic policies for causing “nucleic acid anxiety”. Some netizens wrote comics in the WeChat circle: In Shanghai, your shelf life (expiration date) is not as good as a piece of tofu. Seventy-two hours for you, five days for tofu. In the cartoon, a middle-aged man is lying on the ground.

(The article only represents the author’s personal position and opinion)