Q&A about lockdown in Shanghai: Necessities and business

Daily necessities

Q: How to solve the problem of residents not having sufficient supplies during the 5-day lockdown?

A: All of the city's districts will deliver basic necessities to residents' communities during the lockdown period. Those who need extra help can dial their respective district's 24/7 hotline.

Q: The lockdown requires residents to stay indoors, how do they collect their deliveries?

A: In principle, residents should stay indoors. If there are any deliveries, community volunteers can help give the deliveries to residents in a non-contact manner.

Q: What about living-alone seniors? Will anyone help them buy or get food?

A: During lockdown, communities will help living-alone seniors, especially households that only have one elderly person. Shanghai's residential committees at each level have been asked to assign volunteers to deliver food, vegetables, and deliveries to living-alone seniors.

Also, each of the city's district has set up emergency response teams to care for living-alone seniors. They will make phone calls to such seniors to learn about their needs, like food, medicine or medical help. They will work with community residential committees to help solve the seniors' problems.

Business operation

Q: Who are the epidemic prevention and control personnel? Who are allowed and what documents do they need to enter locked-down communities?

A: The personnel comprise of epidemiological survey crew; as well as medics who are in charge of disinfection, and taking nucleic acid samples, and staff members of the leadership office for pandemic prevention and control at the city, district, and township level.

With related work documents, these personnel can enter communities that are under lockdown to carry out pandemic prevention and control work.

Also, medical personnel, police officers and delivery workers can just show their work document to enter the communities.

Q: Some residents are unable to go to work because of the lockdown. What if their employers still insist on them reporting to work?

A: All enterprises and companies in lockdown areas will either stop operation or adopt work from distance measures, except for those essential lines of work that keep the city functioning such as companies that are in charge of providing water, electricity, gas, communication, transportation, sanitation, and food etc.

Q: Can closed-off firms and factories still operate and produce goods?

A: The closed-off companies and factories can still operate as long as all their employees stick to the lockdown requirements.

Q: Party and Government Office employees will all either work from home or become volunteers in their respective communities to participate in the pandemic control and prevention work. How can they participate?

A: There are two ways in which they can become volunteers. They can contact their residential committees to sign up for volunteer programs or visit the "Shanghai Volunteer" website or their WeChat mini-app to register.

Q: Can hotels still take guests during lockdown? Any special requirements?

A: All hotels in the city will be asked to strictly follow the pandemic prevention and control guidelines for hotels. Also, they will have to comply with the city's newest round of nucleic acid testing requirement by testing their staff and guests.