For many, 2022 was to be the year when they finally got to go home to see their families. But some are finding that easier said than done, as overzealous authorities implement ever-more stringent and constantly changing requirements forcing them into quarantine.
Ms. Chen is one such example. She works in Luohu District of Shenzhen City and planned to return home to Nanjing for the upcoming Chinese New Year. After checking the local epidemic prevention policy in Nanjing that a 48-hour nucleic acid test (NAT) negative certificate would suffice, Chen, who works alone in Shenzhen, bought a ticket home and looked forward to it.
But then the next day, Chen received a worrying SMS, Therein, she was informed that upon arrival in Nanjing, she would need to undergo a 14-day quarantine followed by 7 days of tests.
Chen’s next move was to call Nanjing Lukou International Airport. Customer service informed her the quarantine is only for those with a history of living in medium or high-risk areas. Given that the epidemic situation in Luohu had recently stabilised, the NAT should have been enough.
“Although I live in Luohu, Shenzhen, I am not in a medium and high-risk area. Why was I sent this message? Which should I believe?”, quizzed Chen, reported 21st Century Business Herald on Friday, 21 January.
Now Chen has no idea what to do. If she refunds her air ticket, on which she spent ¥700, she’ll need bear a handling fee of ¥200.
A reporter for the aforementioned publication called the airport’s epidemic prevention headquarters again last Thursday and got the same automated reply. They then tried a service line staffed by an actual human. No one answered, not even after 10 attempts.
The media also researched the relevant up-to-date public policies in Nanjing, which make no mention of any kind of quarantine.
So Chen should now have been in the clear. But she’s not. After many calls to Nanjing’s public health hotline, her family finally got through and learned that those coming from Luohu and Longgang districts of Shenzhen are indeed to be quarantined.
Chen is just one of thousands who have been troubled by the problem of inaccurate population classification in epidemic prevention and control policies. The phenomenon is being described as “expanding the scope of identified medium-risk areas”. Authorities have admitted the ad hoc policy is impacting a large number of people seeking to return home from cities which are or were medium risk.
Some of those affected have cancelled their plans to return home. Others, who were already halfway there when they received the mysterious SMS, simply turned around and went back from where they came.
So while no one really seems to know what’s going on, people like Chen are now dreading the new year holiday, rather than cherishing the very idea. Epidemic chaos, it would appear, is once again the status quo.
