Three weeks ago, I tested positive for Covid right after landing in Shanghai. This was despite FOUR negative pre-flight tests.
Might be the first foreign journalist in China to be this lucky. Wrote a thing about it.
https://t.co/BrMfko5KHq
I was first taken to a district triage hospital for confirmation tests. They swabbed me EVERYWHERE and took blood twice. Also had a CT scan. https://t.co/67T8o0SSaw
After confirmation tests came back positive, I was then taken to the main Covid hospital in Shanghai, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre in Jinshan District.
Here, they took more blood (14 tubes), swabs, ECG and later sent me for another CT scan. https://t.co/x78LGbZAqd
Doctors told me that I could leave once my nucleic acid tests came back negative two days in a row.
That should be easy, I thought. Ppl I know back home are negative within days. I was isolated for 11 days before getting cleared. https://t.co/Vl6zZEkfKU
The food was basic though edible. Porridge & pickles for breakfast, rice and dishes for other meals. There was always fruit though they might’ve used more than the recommended amount of oil in the cooking https://t.co/deeyRaO0C6
On Day 3, a care package from the Singapore Consulate arrived — they had been informed because I’m a foreigner. I was inexplicably moved. There was something comforting about seeing items from the “real world” in the sterile hospital setting. https://t.co/okz8PW7Wro
Without a television or a stable internet connection, the days went by slowly.
Other patients in matching hospital issued pyjamas would chat in the corridor. I ended up reading and using my noise cancelling headphones a lot. https://t.co/xuZ3Tx9N2I
China uses a measure called CT levels to decide whether or not you can be allowed out of hospital. Every morning btwn 5 and 5.30, I got nasal swabs.
Cycle threshold is the number of times a sample needs to be amplified before the virus can be spotted. The magic number is 35. https://t.co/vGqO43uky6
Three days in, my only symptom of a sore throat morphed into a cough. The doctors seemed almost relieved — at least there was something they could prescribe! Was given Lianhua Qingwen, the TCM “miracle cure” for Covid, and cough medicine tasting like Fernet. https://t.co/JiWFlqd6I6
But the problem with using CT levels as a benchmark is those numbers can fluctuate. On the first weekend there, levels seemed to be on an upward trajectory but dipped (and plateaued) the following week. It was frustrating.
I tried keeping spirits up with coffee. https://t.co/5vl662w1yl
Finally on Day 11, good news! My CT levels were 40 and I could leave the next day.
But first, there was disinfecting to be done. https://t.co/CsTvJ5r7hf
After leaving hospital, I have to isolate for seven more days in a govt designated hotel. There is no air conditioning and the corridor smells of cigarettes but hey, at least it isn’t hospital.
Technically that also means I should regain freedom tomorrow (June 12). https://t.co/vTqrozA6JE
Unfortunately, things aren’t always straightforward in these Covid times. Yangpu District where I’m in now has a medium risk area. And given Beijing’s burgeoning outbreak, they’re expected to be extra strict.
Will I make it back within the month? Stay tuned to find out.
UPDATE: it is now June 20, 15 days since I was discharged from hospital. Beijing says I need a negative test to be allowed back in.
Simple enough, you’d think. No, Beijing and Shanghai use different systems that aren’t linked.
This is especially tricky since I have a foreign passport instead of a Chinese ID. No problem, there’s a national system!
Plot twist: that system doesn’t work for those of us who use passports as ID, ie foreigners who don’t have Chinese PR.
There are ways around this, of course. The data can be manually added back end.
Next plot twist: they can’t do that for me because I’m a recovered covid patient.
Meanwhile, my dispatch from Shanghai last week — a city still tiptoeing its way out of a lockdown. Have a read.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/being-at-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time-can-mean-quarantine https://t.co/kByKUVKTEI
UPDATE: It is June 30 and I'm in Chongqing. Still not back in Beijing because I have Shanghai, a city that contains mid-risk areas, on my 14-day travel history.
Hold on, I hear you ask, but hasn't China eased travel policy and removed the * from travel tracking mini programme, essentially meaning that you'll be prevented from travelling only if you're actually in a high/medium risk area?
Well, technically, yes. But as I often say, nothing in this country is ever straightforward or easy.
In this case, the implementation and how policy trickles down towards local govts (in this case the Beijing Municipality) is a different matter altogether.
In their entry rules, according to the State Council website, Beijing bars entry to anyone with a 14-day travel history to cities containing medium risk zones.
Still, I wait.
But the city and its people are wonderful, for which I’m grateful. https://t.co/iAhIReKvxb
UPDATE: Six weeks, endless red tape and false starts, a hospital stay, three hotels and two cities later, I’M IN BEIJING. https://t.co/d4qUjUNieK
The cats are clearly THRILLED to see me 🙄 https://t.co/wsNhSwuhuA
