From shelter hospitals to construction sites, hear from three ordinary people in quarantine in China’s biggest city
On April 13, 18 days after Shanghai began locking down neighborhoods in response to what has become China’s worst outbreak of Covid-19 to date, a number of communities let their residents outside the compound gates for the first time for reasons other than nucleic acid testing after reporting no new infections for over 14 days—though many were quickly ushered back in after this temporary reprieve as reports of new cases continued to mount in the ten-thousands across the city.
Over the past month, residents of China’s biggest city have shared experiences tragic, shocking, as well as hopeful as they battled food shortages and tried to get their voices heard. TWOC spoke to four migrant workers in Shanghai on how they are surviving lockdown when unable to work or isolate in safe conditions. As part of our collaboration with renowned podcast Story FM, we hear from three more Shanghai residents under quarantine in wildly different locations—on a construction site, in a hotel, and at a temporary “shelter hospital”—and how they got the assistance they needed.
Founded in 2017 by Kou Aizhe, Story FM is one of the most renowned podcast in China. Each episode focuses on ordinary people’s lives and viewpoints, including the difficulties of marginalized people. Through intimate and private interviews, Story FM digs out first-person experiences and lets listeners immerse themselves in another person’s voice and feelings. You can listen to their podcast in Chinese on Ximalaya, Qingting FM, Apple Podcasts, and the 故事FM mini-app on WeChat.
