Residents relish chances to go shopping as lockdown restrictions ease
Print Edition
It was like a special treat when the deliriously happy Auntie Zheng stepped into the supermarket, a run-of-the-mill store around the street corner. But she has never missed visiting it more.
“I was so excited to be allowed to leave my residential compound,” she said, adding it had been nearly seven weeks since her last visit.
The COVID-19 resurgence brought the normally bustling city of Shanghai to a standstill in late March. As the pandemic gradually wanes, malls, markets, restaurants, hair salons and other businesses have slowly begun to open from mid-May, including Lianhua Supermarket’s Xinzha Store.
Zheng was the first shopper to visit the store after its reopening at 8am on May 17. “I’m here to buy some daily necessities for my family,” she said, dazzled by arrays of goods.
Jiang, another customer, didn’t have time to knock around. She was tasked with going shopping for four senior neighbors who live alone.
“Sugar, salt, milk, biscuits, tissues, toothpaste,” she muttered and checked the shopping list as she walked by the shelves. “It’s great to get everything we need, and the prices are reasonable.”
In preparation for the reopening, there was a hurried overnight restocking of shelves with seasonal vegetables and fruits, rice and noodles, milk and eggs, skincare and cosmetics products, among many others, said store manager Cheng Demin.
To ensure making as little contact as possible, many customers wore gloves and carried their own shopping bags. They needed to scan the venue code, check temperature and show negative nucleic acid test results within 48 hours.
The store now opens six hours a day, only accepting 800 customers per day. But it will gradually increase the capacity to meet the one-stop purchase demands of local people, Cheng said.
Along Maoming Road N., the tantalizing aromas of coffee and breakfast waft through the air as five stores, including boulangerie Fascino, Italian restaurant Allora and fast-food chain Taco Bell in Fengshengli, a Xintiandi-style commercial complex, have also returned to work. However, they are only operating online.
At Allora, five workers are under closed-loop management. It’s a bit strange for them to go back into the store after leaving several weeks earlier. But they immediately threw themselves into making pizza.
“Now we provide about 400 pizzas everyday to local residents and front-line workers,” said Lin Da, the store manager.
Jing’an police have stepped up their vigilance to ensure contactless delivery rules are maintained. Taco Bell has set up rails to guide the orderly management of delivery workers taking orders.
“Every delivery man has to scan their venue code and receive an antigen test before entering the stores,” said police officer Xiao Wei.
Police have also helped these stores to launch closed-loop management.
“We are ordered to separate our working and living areas. But we are just a small bakery and we don’t have much room. So, we turn to local police. Thankfully, they helped us reach property managers who found a place in Fengshengli for our staff to stay,” said Ye Jin, store manager of Briant Bakery.
More businesses have returned to work in Shimen Road No. 2 Subdistrict where most areas are precautionary.
At a Family Mart convenience store on Beijing Road W., store manager Liu Chao and his colleague have been living in the store under closed-loop management since early April when the city’s massive lockdowns began.
“We provide sandwiches, box lunch and other snacks that people need to satisfy their appetite,” he said. “Every day we have to deal with hundreds of orders.”
The popular Jixiang Wonton eatery on Shimen Road No. 2 handles a constant stream of orders every day. To thank the deliverymen, the store manager provides them with wontons when they arrive.
“These days I’m poorly fed. I’m so touched that I can eat delicious wontons,” said young deliveryman Xiao Shang.
Also, bus services are gradually resuming to connect downtown districts, airports, railway stations and hospitals.
Three bus lines, No. 21, No. 37 and No. 57, are operating from Jing’ansi public transportation hub. The Suishenban code and venue code are posted on the bus doors for passengers to scan. They also need to show the drivers their negative nucleic acid test results within 48 hours before getting in.
The three bus lines now operate with an interval of about 30 to 40 minutes, much longer than before to leave time off the road for thorough disinfection.
A No. 71 bus running on Yan’an Road recently had only two to three passengers in a carriage, windows open to ensure ventilation.
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