- In Shanghai, bankers and traders live in offices despite the strict COVID-19 lockdown. Reuters reported.
- Some offices in Lujiazui district — China’s Wall Street — preppped sleeping bags and toiletries for workers to stay overnight.
- Shanghai, a financial centre of more than 26 millions, has seen a rise in COVID-19 case in the past weeks.
In Shanghai, China, more than 20,000 traders and bankers live in their offices. This is to ensure smooth business operations in the face of strict COVID-19 restrictions. Reuters reported.
According to the outlet, some offices in Lujiazui’s financial district, also known as China Wall Street, have provided items such as sleeping bags or toiletries for employees who want to sleep out over night.
Henry, a hedge fund manager said that living in the office meant sharing a bathroom and no access to showers with 20 others. Bloomberg reported. According to the outlet, workers attempted to turn off the neon signs of neighboring skyscrapers by asking for help from colleagues.
CNNSome traders and fund managers were even offered daily allowances between 500 and 2000 yuan ($78-$314 per night) to spend the night at their offices.
Many workers have reportedly been living at work from at least Monday, which is when Pudong – the half of the city that sits to the east of the Huangpu River — first went into lockdown. Shanghai, 26 million strong financial center, was divided in two to facilitate mass testing. Residents on both sides of river experienced different phases of aphasis. Lockdown strict.
Pudong was supposed to lift restrictions on Friday, but Just extended for another 10 daysThis means that employees working in the financial district might have to stay in their cubicles longer than they expected.
For some workers, the act of working began before the current lockdown was put in place.
A video that was shared on social media last WednesdayChina Internet Information Centre reports that workers in an unidentified Shanghai location can be seen sleeping on mattresses or sleeping bags between their cubicles. One worker was seen lying on two rows chairs.
In the video, a man says that colleagues who snore were sent to the meeting room for sleep. He said that the showers were not available so workers had boil water to clean up.
According to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission Shanghai had 4,144 cases of asymptomatic disease and 358 cases of symptomatic COVID-19 on Thursday.