Page 4 - 20200331【上海日报】3月刊

C4 Jing’an Tuesday 31 March 2020 Shanghai Daily

In quarantine, expats given local support

Warm community In Jing’an, police and grassroots officials are making every effort to
Welcome ensure that each returning resident is supported during their 14-day
quarantine. Authorities and volunteers are lending a hand in areas where
many expats live. Here are some examples. Li Qian reports.

Walking the dog

Jing’an Four Seasons, a high-end residen-
tial complex on Shimen No. 1 Road is home
to more than 300 expats from 41 countries
and regions.
In the complex’s Taixing neighborhood,
notices were posted in English, Italian, Ko-
rean and Japan to inform foreign residents
about quarantine measures. Multilingual
volunteers were also on hand to help, where
needed, with translation.
On March 2, a Japanese man returned
from his native home and started his 14-day
quarantine at home. When he had barely set
down his luggage, neighborhood worker Zhu
Valentina Li was exhausted after an overnight Yuxiang knocked on his door and explained
flight from Paris to Shanghai and lengthy pro- the latest prevention measures. Fluent in
cedures at Pudong International Airport, but Japanese, Zhu answered all his questions.
she was relieved and happy to be back home on “I gave my reassurances that I would stay Volunteers help
March 7. indoors for 14 days,” the man said. with health checks
“There is nowhere else safer than China right Zhu explained, “I set up a WeChat group at entrances to
now,” she said. for Japanese residents. If they have any prob- international
Li lives at the Beifang Jiafang residential com- lems, they can let me know through WeChat, communities
plex in Zhijiang Road W. Subdistrict. When she and I will help them.” and act as
finally disembarked from the special bus that Neighborhood workers also act as delivery- deliverymen to
transported her home, she was astonished to be men for takeaway food and other packages carry food for
greeted by a team of more than 10 people. that are dropped at the doorsteps of quaran- those under home
“It was a surprising warm welcome,” she tined residents. quarantine.
said. Zhang Shujin’s job is to walk the dog of a
Community workers and volunteers, local Japanese man who returned and was put in
medical workers and police officers took her home quarantine.
temperature, guided her through the process of “He was so worried about his dog,” Zhang
signing a home quarantine pledge and gave her said. “I have a dog of my own, so I under-
a hand with her luggage. stood his concerns and volunteered to take
Li received a “gift pack” of alcohol disinfectant, care of his dog. Now I walk two dogs a day,
a clinical thermometer, masks and gloves. and they get along fine.”
Due to her work, Li travels a lot. In January,
she was on an overseas business trip when the
coronavirus epidemic broke out in China.
“I had traveled to New York, London, Milan
and France,” she said. “During my overseas stay, not lost in translation
I found that many foreigners were simply com-
paring the novel coronavirus to seasonal flu and
weren’t taking it very seriously.”
As soon as she landed in Shanghai, she re- As more foreign residents return from
ceived a call from authorities telling her what abroad, Jing’an police have set up the city’s
she had to do next. first “foreign languages” team to offer sup-
“I had been a little bit worried, but the call port to expats required to go into home
really relived my tensions,” she said. quarantine.
“Our passports were taken and our travel itin- Officers on the team are proficient in
eraries logged,” she said. “People who had been English, French, German, Italian, Spanish,
to Italy in the past 14 days had to take a nucleic Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean or
acid-based detection test.” Persian. They are available in WeChat groups
After she was permitted to get off the plane, with colleagues serving expats, and can step
she underwent strict customs and immigration in when necessary.
inspections. So far, the team has helped in over 60
“Officials asked me a lot of questions, and my cases, according to Jing’an police.
luggage was disinfected,” she said. Bai Wenchao is one of them. He graduated
Then, she was guided to a desk to register her in Italian from Shanghai International Stud-
ID number, home address and other personal ies University in 2009 and was among a team
information. She proceeded to a designated bus Jing’an police use a special translation card to help them of Shanghai policemen dispatched to patrol
to go home. communicate with expats. tourist hotpots in Italy in 2017.
“Besides the driver, there were just three of “To talk to foreigners in their mother
us on the bus: a man from Rome, a volunteer tongue means messages are delivered accu-
from airport and me,” she said. “We sat far apart rately, and besides, it makes them feel more
and didn’t talk. A police car followed us all the at home,” Bai said.
way.” “The team now has 50 officers,” accord-
Subdistrict and neighborhood officials were ing to officer Zhang Xin. “We’ve asked many
waiting for her on arrival. front-line officers to jot down common ques-
“I was told that I should stay at home for the 14- tions and translate them into English.”
day quarantine,” Li said. A medical worker would Jing’an police have made cards with words
visit me every day to take my body temperature. such as “quarantine,” “symptoms” and
Neighborhood committee workers would help get “fever” for officers. By scanning a QR code
food and daily necessities.” on the card, officers can learn how words
She added, “So far, everything is fine. I haven’t and phrases are pronounced. In addition, of-
encountered any difficulties. I feel very grateful for ficers have sent 10 police teddy bear to expat
all the help and care from my neighborhood.” children to brighten their days.