When the numbers start to spike, when the ambiance comes to a halt, when the traffic begins to ease, when the city sleeps, the clouds and storms wash away all the happiness of the town, everything is locked and lies calmly.
On March 12, the online notice struck social media across Shanghai, and the city was destined to walk through fire. The fire of rebirth.
Rounds and rounds of lockdowns and quarantines have driven people crazy under this extraordinary routine. PCR tests are almost daily, and the “blue hazmat squad” can be seen everywhere, but how does this round of lockdown disrupt people’s lifestyles? For a more in-depth look, we have interviewed people from different occupations, from adolescents to adults, from the PCR test-taker to the test-giver.
Undoubtedly, life’s rhythm altered. With people stuck at home or their workplace, not being able to go anywhere, even the point-line connection between leisure and work becomes a route of pleasure. An international school student, Sam (alias), expresses that “the lack of entertainment” is a growing factor in his life that makes every day the same scenery without fun. Sleeping patterns, eating patterns, and people’s biological clocks, are ruined. “Some days I sleep at 8 p.m., while other days I fall asleep as late as 3 a.m,” Sam says. He is coping with the growing issue of experiencing a “loss of focus during class time.”
It is not only students but teachers as well. John (alias), a foreign teacher working in this city, tells us, “I have become more sedentary; now that I can’t leave my apartment, I feel like I am gaining half a kg of weight daily. I am able to get more Steam hours logged; I don’t know if that is a good thing, though.” This boresome lifestyle accompanying quarantine is now ingrained into people’s lives as they lose interpersonal connections. Instead, they are forced into communicating through video chats and text messages, subject to screens cutting through their communication between friends and loved ones. “I truly miss my friends,” says Sam, and it’s no wonder why — this connection has been so important.
Joanne (alias), a nurse experiencing lockdown in her hospital who has not been able to meet her family back home for a long time, explains that “this has been the way of living since Covid ever started. These 2 or 3 years of rounds of lockdown have always been like this. I can see my family, but I cannot touch them, and this grows into more yearning for the reunion of the family.”
A scene of lockdown at Joanne’s workplace
“Every day, the peace message they send is the mere motivation of proceeding.”
Family is now so emphasized. Never has family taken on a more significant role than it is now. People live with their families 24/7 because of the restrictions and consider each other’s work schedules. Clearly, living together has caused some burdens, but people tend to leave each other some private space to make interactions work. Families are trying to be supportive. “Not interfer[ing] during working hours” and mental support is the best a family can do under this circumstance. “Being trapped in our house isn’t the most ideal situation, but we are making the best of it,” says John, thankful for his family’s company in this special time. Family is the motivation for living, whether for those who can be with them all day, or not.
Joanne says, “Thinking of seeing my family after the lockdown is over is my motivation for work, for trying harder at work to combat this. I’m anxious that there will be positive cases around them, and I’m so concerned that not communicating with them on a daily basis becomes a burden. I care a lot for them.”
We are hopeful that this round of the pandemic can be over soon. For whatever trouble or burden we are experiencing now, try to take it as a bar of chocolate that life has given you and be hopeful for the next one. Your loved ones are there with you.
For the heroes out there at the frontline, your loved ones have your back, waiting for your much-anticipated return.
Stay safe, and fail your Covid test.
Jessica T