Xia Yuanjie

szrbgracexia@126.com

ALEX MCCUTCHEON, an Australian presenter at Hong Kong Satellite Television who lives in Shenzhen, used his mobile to record daily life at his residential compound, which has been placed under lockdown amid the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Shenzhen.

“We’ve gotten into a rhythm where every day from around lunchtime until the late afternoon, we’re all coming down and taking a PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test [for the coronavirus],” he said in a short video, which has garnered 2 million views since it was posted on Shenzhen Daily’s Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, on Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, Shenzhen reported a resurgence of COVID cases and swiftly ramped up citywide preventive measures to contain the virus, including locking down confirmed cases’ neighborhoods.

Liantang Subdistrict in Luohu District where McCutcheon resides in is one of the housing compounds under restriction. For the Australian resident, isolation doesn’t mean boredom or supply shortages. He can still pick up his online purchases delivered to his compound’s gate freely and work from home. He is also occupied with studying Thai and economics, exercising, cleaning, and cooking every day.

Apart from preventive measures imposed at high-risk areas, the city has also launched several rounds of mass nucleic acid tests and required people who visit indoor public spaces to present negative nucleic acid test results obtained within 48 hours and wear masks.

As of now, Shenzhen has set up hundreds of free nucleic acid sampling points across the city.

Teo Wei Tong from Singapore, a senior manager of a Japanese multinational company, has undergone four rounds of tests at his community near Shenzhen Bay in Nanshan District.

“Shenzhen’s control measures to prevent the spread of the virus are very timely and efficient,” he said. “Many free PCR test points are being set up and test results are promptly updated.”

Ryoko Nakamura from Japan shared her daily observations.

“Everyone follows guidelines to stay safe,”said she, who moved to the city six months ago. “I have already seen the community’s enormous efforts and the power of Shenzhen people.”

Jeannie Wyse from the U.S., who teaches music at an international kindergarten, had an earlier winter break due to the government’s suspension of on-campus classes. She highly recognizes the government’s efforts to protect citizens although she finds it unfortunate to cancel her upcoming Chinese New Year trip because of travel restrictions in many parts of China.

“If we are all vaccinated, I hope we can start living our lives normally without a lockdown,” Wyse said. “We all need to give back in some way.”