Zhaotong residents home after quarantine
Workers remove the cordon lines outside the Zhaotong residential area where lockdown ended at 6pm on Thursday.
Zhaotong residents were returning home on Thursday night after two weeks in quarantine.
The neighborhood, in downtown Huangpu District, was downgraded from medium to low risk at 6pm.
The area was put in lockdown on January 21 due to coronavirus infection, with 2,000 of its residents evacuated to designated hotels.
The first batch of residents returned by bus at around 6:30pm.
Residents of Zhaotong neighborhood return home with their luggage. The 2,000 residents of the area will be transferred back in batches as they've finished their two-week quarantine.
A senior resident of Zhaotong compound in a wheelchair is helped by workers.
“We’ve received really attentive care from the workers,” said a middle-aged woman surnamed Hu, who was getting off the bus with her luggage. “I was impressed at how they’ve been delivering food for every one of us, it was not easy as they had to cater for our taste preferences.”
Hu said her family hadn’t any plans yet for the Spring Festival, but they would be having a good rest.
A woman wearing a pink backpack left the bus along with her snowy furry beagle.
“I really appreciated that we were allowed to bring pets for the quarantine,” she said. “My ‘Big White’ has been looked after well at the hotel.”
“The government has taken really precise control of the (virus) situation,” said a man surnamed Huang, who was on a second bus.
“Screening, quarantine and four rounds of nucleic acid tests have been carried out really efficiently,” he said.
A woman with a pink backpack gets off the bus with her beagle.
Apart from the residents, people stuck at three chain hotels inside the area — Homeinns, JI Hotel, Jitai Hotel — also expressed their gratitude and joy at the lifting of quarantine.
A worker surnamed Liu at JI Hotel said they received tremendous support and understanding from the guests, as well as supplies from the local culture and tourism bureau.
Besides her, four of her colleagues and 76 guests at the hotel have been freed.
“I’m so thrilled to be finally able to go home,” said Zhang Xiaoli, landlord of Homeinns, who, together with her family, has spent the quarantine in her hotel.
Zhang admitted that the first and last couple of days were tough, during which they chose to watch TV and their phones to pass the time.
A total of 30 people were quarantined at Homeinns and they had taken four nucleic acid tests during the period, according to Zhang.
Resident Pan places cat food at the gate of the Zhaotong compound during the lockdown period.
Pan, a resident who lives across the street, has been feeding the cats inside the empty neighborhood.
Pan was dubbed “Cat Mommy” by neighbors, as she herself had adopted six stray cats.
She said she bought over 20 kilograms of pet food. She would drop the food at the gate of the neighbourhood, accessible for the kittens.
“I’ve been friends with these kittens since a long time ago,” she said. “I could not stand aside and see them dying due to a lack of food. It’s satisfying to know my neighbors are coming back.”
The transfer of residents is still in progress and the local government is ensuring that they can all return home safely and as soon as possible.
A woman on her way home with her daughter and her baby.
A woman from the Zhaotong compound takes a walk with her child after lockdown is lifted.
