Pandemic Worker Regrets the Easing of the Lockdowns in China

An epidemic control worker wears PPE to protect against COVID-19 as he guards the gate of a government quarantine facility on Dec. 7, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Zhao Lei (pseudonym) has worked as an epidemic control worker wearing white protective clothing since June. Beijing’s sudden easing of COVID-19 prevention measures meant he was terminated from his job. To him, the preventive volunteer job was a temporary but quick way to make money.

Zhao said he wanted to continue doing the job for as long  as he could, and is ready to work again during the next pandemic peak that some Chinese people anticipate is sure to occur.

The Chinese CDC warned there will be three peaks of COVID-19 infections this winter, between mid-December and mid-March.

While waiting to be rehired as a preventive worker, Zhao explained how the job had helped him from being unemployed to someone who earns money.

On Dec. 18, he described his experiences while working in the lockdown cities: how the volunteer agencies cut his pay by charging a commission, how the volunteers made extra money by selling high-priced cigarettes to the quarantined individuals, and how the easy money made him regret that the lockdown was stopped.

Fangcangs Pay Well

The Fangcang hospitals, the Chinese term for temporary make-shift hospitals, paid better wages than the quarantine hotels did, according to Zhao. He said it was because the Fangcangs accept only patients who have tested positive for COVID-19  that the daily wage was 300 yuan (about $43) at a minimum.

In order to find a Fangcang that was hiring, he moved around the country following the outbreaks and the lockdowns in different cities.

Coming from the landlocked province of Guangxi in the south, he went to Zhejiang, an east coast province, and Guangdong, a coastal province in south China, to work as a pandemic preventive worker.

The so-called volunteer workers, also known as “big whites” because of their protective white suits, are actually paid for their work. The wages vary greatly from place to place.

Zhao said that he had hoped to work in Shanghai where the Fangcang “big whites” are paid at least 800 yuan (about $115) a day. He said there were people who made up to 80,000 yuan (about $11,480) in 3 months of working as a “big white.”

“Unfortunately, I was in Guangdong when Shanghai was locked down,” he said.

He said that to go to Shanghai as a “big white” one had to go through a placement agent who would charge a 1,000 to 1,500 yuan (about $144 to $215) service fee.

Zhao said that the state-owned agency and the security agents got contracts from the local government. Through various small and medium local agents the big whites were hired, and each agent would charge a different contract fee.

He said that if the government paid 1,600 yuan ( about $229) for each “big white,” the “big white” would only receive 800 yuan (about $115) because of deductions by various levels of agents involved.

COVID-19 prevention workers in protective suits stand outside a residential compound that is under lockdown in Beijing on Nov. 28, 2022. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Reselling Cigarettes

In early November, he was working as a security person checking villagers’ QR health code. He said the work paid very little, 220 yuan (about $31.57) a day, but he had to check a lot of people each day. In just three days, he felt exhausted and quit.

He then waited outside a Fangcang in Haizhu District, an outbreak epicenter in Guangdong. He introduced himself to anyone he thought looked like a manager.

He said, “I just wanted to work in the Fangcang.”

He was hired as a security guard on the outside perimeter of a local Fangcang, at a pay of 320 yuan (about $46) a day.

Those working inside the Fangcang were paid 500 yuan (about $72) a day. He said, “People would beg to get the job” of delivering meals and collecting trash.

He said that people working inside the Fangcang were allowed to resell certain items, such as cigarettes. “There are 1,000 people in one quarantine compartment; you can resell many cigarettes at twice the cost.”

Each inside volunteer could bring up to 10 cartons of cigarettes to the Fangcang, he said.

To him, easing the restriction measures came too suddenly. The Fangcang cleared all patients out by Dec. 12, and the TV reported that all Fangcang wages were paid off by 5 p.m. “I was disappointed it was over,” he said.

Looking Forward to Next Peak

Guangdong has kept six Fangcangs open for those who tested COVID-19 positive and refused to leave.

Zhao said he had hoped that he would keep the job at the Fangcang in Haizhu District until the end of the year so that he could bring some cash home.

“No one knew I had been working as a ‘big white,’ I couldn’t tell them. I am already 35 and have a low-back problem. Had I had a stable security guard job, I would not have worked as a volunteer on a daily wage,” he said.

He will try to get hired by one of the six remaining Fangcangs.

“I want to go in [the Fangcang] and work for 300 yuan (about $43) a day. Isn’t there a peak in January and February? If I could earn 20,000 to 30,000 yuan (about $652 to $978), that would be great. Then I will wander off to Lhasa,” he said.

Xia Song and Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report.