Housing officials serious about virus prevention

Shanghai’s housing management officials are keeping on their toes to ensure strict implementation of virus prevention measures at residential communities, government officials said at a press conference on Wednesday.

As of yesterday, the city’s housing management watchdog, as well as its district and subdistrict counterparts, had made inspection trips, including unannounced visits, to 3,084 residential complexes in the city and issued 185 rectification notices, according to Zhang Lixin, deputy director of Shanghai Housing Management Bureau.

All residential communities in Shanghai are required to implement round-the-clock exit-entry management of residents, visitors and vehicles, conduct body temperature checks for everyone entering community and have visitors register their information.

Apart from normal daytime inspections, several districts have designated special teams to conduct checks at night to make sure virus prevention measures are being enforced round the clock.

To deal with complaints regarding virus prevention-related issues, the housing management watchdog has established a mechanism which requires responses within 24 hours. For any complaints received through the city’s consumer complaint hotline 12345 and the property management hotline 962121, either the district or subdistrict housing management department should send their personnel to the site within 24 hours and make sure there’s feedback from the watchdog for every complaint.

Since January 24, 803 virus prevention-related complaints, mainly involving poor management of visitors and vehicles, unsanitized public areas and property management staff not wearing face masks, have been filed around the city, with 755 of them, or 94 percent, settled to date, Zhang said.

Meanwhile, about 91,000 stores along streets, among the total 245,000, have been open for business by Tuesday, according to the Shanghai Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau.

Earlier, the bureau found that more than 12,000 stores along streets, or 13.9 percent of the total, did not enforce sufficient virus prevention measures. Such stores have been ordered to rectify their behaviors.