New Year in Shanghai
This is my third Chinese New Year in Shanghai. 2019 was a normal year, and the city looked half-empty as people left for holidays. 2020 was the Year of the Covid and the city was often an eerie ghost town.
An empty intersection, in a normally busy road (Feb 2020).
East Nanjing Road, Feb 2020. Typically, very very crowded.
Now, in 2021, in Shanghai, the Covid situation is 99% under control. There were a few cases last month and people freaked out a bit (events canceled, temperature controls everywhere, you had to show your QR Code at the entrance of malls &c — which basically just says whether you have been in a dangerous area or not). That was last month. After about 15 cases or so, it seems that it’s back to zero.
However, there are still some restrictions in some parts of China and mandatory at-home quarantine if you come back from a dangerous area. Given the unpredictability of these designations, many people have decided to not take the traditional trip to their family (what is termed their hometown, which does not necessarily designate where they physically grew up, but where the family is from) and instead stay here (“It seems fine now, but what if there is an outbreak in the province while I’m there, then I’d be stuck, so why risk it?” seems to have been a common thought process).
East Nanjing Road today (Feb 2021)
On a different, note, Spring is coming and flowers are starting to show up:
Friday Links.
I think it’s clear that long covid is a real thing, but what thing is it? https://professorsharonpeacock.co.uk/long-covid-the-nightmare-that-wont-end-a-first-hand-perspective/