People in the Epidemic (2) - Waiting for the Unknown Spring in the Weary Late Night | Around the Hearth·CUHK

In the spring of two years ago, the epidemic in various places gradually leveled off, and the order of life began to slowly return to normal. However, in Shanghai, this spring did not arrive as scheduled.

Under the epidemic, the "wartime state" that is ready to enter the emergency mobilization anti-epidemic mode at any time has replaced the normal life of a stable life, and the order is always uncertain with the changes in policies and the fluctuation of the epidemic. The sudden and large-scale outbreak caught many grassroots organizations by surprise. In a community in Pudong New Area, the neighborhood committee was unexpectedly quarantined at the beginning of the outbreak, and several volunteers experimented with community autonomy in a closed building.

1

"Temporary volunteers in raincoats"

I was in school in March. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, the trajectory of the epidemic involved our school many times, so the school has been closed since March 2nd. At that time, we were closed in the school until about March 23, when the number of people infected outside had gradually increased. The school asked students who live in Shanghai to go home first, and then I went back to the community. I didn’t expect that just two or three days after returning home, the number of infected people in the community gradually increased.

On March 24, when all the staff in Pudong New Area received nucleic acid, I signed up for temporary volunteers. At that time, our protective equipment was very rudimentary, and we didn't even have protective clothing. We put on a raincoat, N95 masks and gloves before volunteering. As soon as the nucleic acid results came out that day, it was found that there were positives in our building, and our building was sealed from that day. At that time, the neighborhood committee still came to organize everyone to do nucleic acid. As a result, because a volunteer was infected but he didn't know it, he infected the social worker of the neighborhood committee in the process of chatting with the neighborhood committee. became a close connection. Therefore, the neighborhood committees were collectively isolated and locked in the office from the first day of the epidemic in our community, which directly led to confusion in the initial management. 10 volunteers were also sent from the street behind, but they were isolated as soon as they came because they were in close contact with the neighborhood committee. After the nucleic acid turned negative and the quarantine was lifted, they said no. Because they felt that the accommodation environment was too poor and they had to do a lot of work every day, they just packed up and left without any help. So in fact, our entire street, or even the entire Pudong New Area, is quite chaotic.

We were blocked in the building, and the neighborhood committee was blocked in the office. Under the circumstances of chaotic management, the residents of our building could only spontaneously organize volunteer work. At first, a neighbor I knew took the initiative to stand up and say that since they have all volunteered, they should keep doing it. In fact, it is very simple to say no. No one will accuse us. We just feel that someone has to stand up and arrange these things for everyone, and we cannot let the situation continue to be so chaotic. I felt that he could not be allowed to do so much alone. The nucleic acid testing of residents and the delivery of materials, such a large workload could not be piled on him alone, so I naturally became a volunteer in our building. At first, there were only four volunteers who maintained all the work in the building during the epidemic. No one told us what to do or how to do it, and no one helped us with materials and equipment, so we had to organize volunteers on our own. Arrange various epidemic prevention matters. In this way, the community has entered a state of building autonomy.

2

"Watching in the Epidemic"

The work at the beginning was quite difficult, after all, everything really started from scratch. At that time, the neighborhood committee distributed two sets of protective clothing to a building every day, which meant that only two volunteers participated in the shift every day. However, such a volunteer had to work continuously for six hours at a high intensity, so two sets of protective clothing a day were definitely not enough. . Fortunately, there is a family in our building who is a doctor. He donated some surgical clothes, which are equivalent to simple protection and are better than raincoats. Later, in early April, four sets of protective clothing were issued every day, and occasionally two more sets were issued. As for the specific volunteer work, it’s okay to carry materials. You only need to distribute the materials downstairs to the corresponding families according to the list. It’s just a little tiring to run up and down, but these physical labor can be regarded as the most difficult during the epidemic. Simple work now.

The more troublesome thing is to do the nucleic acid test and issue the antigen test kit. I remember the first time we organized and arranged for everyone to do the nucleic acid test on the 28th. It was about seven or eight o’clock in the evening, and it was quite dark. The doctor from Zhejiang came that time. Help us make nucleic acids. At first they called all of us down together, and we have 18 floors and only two elevators. It would take a long time to wait for the elevators in batches, so we urged everyone to hurry up. Ready to go downstairs. After the results came down, it was found that there were various unexpected emergencies in nucleic acid testing. One time, the thermal paper was gone, and the other time, the cotton swab for the throat swab was gone. The nucleic acid testing process was constantly interrupted because of such events. These were completely unexpected. outside. The queue waiting for nucleic acid to be done is very long, and the efficiency is very low.

During the second nucleic acid test, we discussed with the doctor whether we could wait for the volunteers to complete all the preparatory work before going to the door to do the nucleic acid test. The four of us held a meeting to assign tasks, knocking on the door one night in advance, reminding everyone to take a screenshot of the nucleic acid detection QR code of Health Cloud, to help the elderly who cannot operate mobile phones also register the information, and prepare spare testing supplies. Replace if gone. After changing the strategy a bit, the detection is much faster.

There are actually many elderly people in our building, and they encountered quite a lot of difficulties during the epidemic. For example, they will not use their mobile phones to order food, or take screenshots of QR codes to prepare nucleic acid in advance. It is inconvenient to get antigens and supplies in a wheelchair. We will come to help them solve these problems one by one; There are also many people who have been transferred away. We need to help them deliver supplies and clean up garbage. There are also some patients who need medicine. This is a very urgent need. Of course, we will try to help them as much as possible. After coming and going, I became familiar with everyone in the building. When they encountered difficulties, they came directly to us for help. I have never met most of my neighbors before, and the ones I have met are only familiar. This volunteer experience allowed me to communicate with many people at once, and I also felt the temperature of this building. We have a positive infected person living alone upstairs, and the surrounding neighbors will always care about him and send some milk and eggs that he does not have enough. The relationship between neighbors during the epidemic seems to be especially harmonious and close. Everyone is watching each other and looking forward to getting through this period.

There is also a house with two people living in the building. One is not very healthy, and the other is an elderly man in his 80s. He fell off the bed two or three times in two days. especially difficult. One day when we were wearing protective clothing to do their antigen test, we found the old man lying on the ground, stuck between the bed and the window. His clothes were in a mess, and his mind was a little unclear. He couldn't hear what we were talking to him. What, may have been lying on the ground for an hour or two. We were afraid to touch him because we were worried about the second injury, so we directly contacted the neighborhood committee to make an emergency call, but after he was picked up by an ambulance, the hospital said that his life was not in danger. Sent back the same way.

We received a message a few days ago that the old man had passed away.

3

"Information you can only see with your own eyes"

However, what affects our work the most is the poor information during the epidemic. Our direct contact with the neighborhood committee and residents is relatively smooth, but the content received by the neighborhood committee is often ambiguous. Convey clear messages. For example, the CDC came to retest several times, which means that the mixed nucleic acid test the day before was positive, but when they asked the street and the neighborhood committee for this information, they said that they had not received any notification in this regard.

Another time, the CDC notified the neighborhood committee that an infected person had been transferred out of the community, but in fact he was still in the building, and no one notified us that he had not left. We found out about this when we distributed supplies one day, and they asked if we could go downstairs to get them. Things like this often happen, and many things cannot be traced back to a reliable source of information. You can only believe what you see, and you can only get a lot of information by seeing it with your own eyes.

The resignation letter written by the secretary of our neighborhood committee, "Spring is coming," said that no one notified them when they would come for the nucleic acid retest, no one reported the infection status of the community residents, and they did not know whether the nucleic acid report displayed by the health cloud was or not. believable. This letter is all about real problems, and the truth is that we can only judge real data by what we see. With shortages of food, medicine, and anti-epidemic supplies, confusing information, rigid orders, and a far-off date to lift the lockdown, we don't know what kind of present we are living in, or what kind of tomorrow we are waiting for.

In this way, four of us volunteers work in shifts. They are responsible for moving supplies, helping with nucleic acid testing, sending notifications to residents to communicate information, disinfecting building halls and elevators, and helping people who cannot self-test antigens come to the door to test. Whatever needs to be done, we have to do it. No matter what position, everyone works three hours a day in a row, repeating the rounds every day.

4

"Waiting for the unknowable spring"

In fact, when I first came to sign up as a volunteer, I didn’t think much about the risk of infection at all. At that time, there were no infected people in our community, but I didn’t expect many positives to be tested on the first day. However, I gradually realized that I needed to be exposed to more dangerous environments, such as disposing of the garbage of infected people. I gradually realized the risks and did not consider giving up being a volunteer. After all, there are only three or four volunteers in total, and they have been doing it for more than ten days according to the inertia. They feel that it is okay to take protective measures.

The day I first put on the protective suit, I felt very energetic. After all, it was a very unfamiliar experience. I felt as if I had truly become an official volunteer. That was an identity that I felt a little distance from before. Driven by a sense of freshness and a sense of mission, I didn't feel that work was too tiring. There are three-hour shifts in the back, and the physical fatigue can also be handled. Compared with the volunteers who may need to rotate six times in the morning and ten nights at the door, and ride battery cars to transport supplies, our work is still a lot easier. But we gradually discovered that as volunteers under the epidemic, we need to deal with a very complex and changing environment. This is the first time we have encountered the epidemic so closely. Many plans need to be constantly adjusted and optimized. If we always operate according to a set of rigid and rigid rules, our efficiency will be greatly reduced, and policy changes will always affect our work. content.

I remember the day when the health cloud system was replaced with nucleic acid code, I happened to be on the latest shift, theoretically it should be from 5:30 to 8:30, but suddenly in the afternoon, the community was temporarily notified to do nucleic acid, and there were 26 buildings in the whole community. There were only three groups of doctors on the floor. We thought we could stop doing it at eight or nine o'clock in the evening, but the street informed us that we had to do it today no matter what, so I waited until ten o'clock in the evening before finally waiting for the doctor. At that time, the number of protective clothing was in short supply. Since the protective clothing had to be changed and washed every day, in order to save the protective clothing, no one changed the shift with me that night. I had to wait until the nucleic acid test finally ended at 12:15. Seven hours later I finally took off my protective suit for the first time and had water. Today is my 13th day of continuous work as a volunteer. At 10:30 in the middle of the night, from a one-year-old child to an elderly person in their 70s and 80s, more than 300 residents of the whole building were called from their homes to downstairs for nucleic acid testing. Neighbors complained about why they had to go downstairs so late, and the chaotic voices kept lingering in their ears, but there was nothing we could do. time. Doctors working on nucleic acid work continuously and intensively. They are exhausted. The neighborhood committee is almost paralyzed, and everyone is exhausted. A great sense of absurdity hung over me that night. When will spring come this year, I don't know, and I can't see it.

Text | Vinyl

Figure | Provided by interviewee

Reviewer | He Yiyang

WeChat Editor | Tho

matters editor | Gigi

Around the Fire (ID:weilu_flame)

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