Author: Liu Yiqin Financial Magazine
Editor: Xie Lirong
They came from all over the country to support Wuhan, but their identity is somewhat awkward. They do not belong to the rescue team, nor are they considered "stranded personnel".
On March 17th, the first batch of 41 medical teams supporting Hubei began their return journey. The people of Wuhan warmly bid farewell to these medical staff from all over the country. On the other hand, there was some commotion at an isolation observation point in Hongshan District. This place is used to isolate and observe the workers who were withdrawn from Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital. There are a total of 377 workers living in the temporary board houses of the Zhongjian Bo Mansion project.
The isolation worker statistics list obtained by the "Financial" reporter shows that the latest batch of 22 workers who were withdrawn started isolation on February 28th. By March 14th, all 377 workers had completed a 14-day isolation period. They did not receive any notification to return home and were not allowed to leave the isolation point. They received subsidies during the isolation period, about 5,000 yuan per person. After the isolation period, no more subsidies were provided.
The workers made two demands to the on-site staff responsible for maintaining order: first, they hoped to return to work or have a clear time frame for returning home as soon as possible; second, they requested continued subsidies beyond the isolation period.
An on-site staff member told the "Financial" reporter that the workers surrounded the gate of the isolation point and did not allow the staff to enter or exit. Officials from the Urban Construction Bureau and the Petition Bureau also came, but they were unable to provide a clear solution. "We can only report to the municipal government and request a plan for returning home as soon as possible, but no one knows when we can leave Wuhan."
There are also some workers who have evacuated from Huoshenshan and Leishenshan and are self-isolating in hotels or other accommodation. They have to bear the expenses themselves. After the isolation period, they will receive a health certificate and can continue to work in Wuhan. However, Wuhan has not fully resumed work yet, and various construction sites are still suspended. A worker involved in the construction of Leishenshan Hospital told the "Financial" reporter that he is facing economic pressure: "My friends in my hometown have already started working, but I have no income now."
China Construction Third Engineering Bureau is the overall commander of the construction of the two mountain hospitals. An official responsible for worker management at China Construction Third Engineering Bureau told the "Financial" reporter that the workers' dissatisfaction has been going on for several days, and there have even been incidents of damaging the facilities at the isolation point out of anger. The above-mentioned person said that they have communicated with various departments of the Wuhan government, but there is still no solution at the moment.
The workers who were withdrawn from Huoshenshan and Leishenshan are divided into two phases. The first phase consists of ordinary workers, and the second phase consists of workers who continued to work in the wards after treating patients. The aforementioned person from China Construction Third Engineering Bureau told the "Financial" reporter that about 70 second-phase workers are isolated in a construction site board house in Caidian District.
On March 17th, due to poor conditions at the isolation point in Caidian District, these workers were transferred to an isolation point in the city for continued observation. "Confirmed and suspected patients have all been treated, and these remaining workers have completed a 14-day isolation period without any new infections."
For many workers, the biggest difficulty is the lack of income after the isolation period. Some workers who were not centrally managed chose to look for other job opportunities in Wuhan. Currently, Wuhan is still building shelter hospitals in the suburbs, but the demand for workers is not high, and most people can only wait on-site.
"Being mentally prepared for infection"
On February 4th, after the first batch of patients were admitted to Huoshenshan Hospital, construction work continued on-site. Li Hai (pseudonym), the person in charge of the project, and his workers began to worry about the risk of infection and did not want to continue working.
Li Hai arrived at Huoshenshan on January 24th and worked continuously until the hospital admitted patients on February 4th. The three days before admitting patients were the most intense period, with only 1-2 hours of sleep per day. Huoshenshan Hospital was not completed until mid-February, but Li Hai did not leave and stayed to do post-maintenance work.
Indeed, there is a risk of infection.
On February 15th, heavy rain fell in Wuhan, and there were leaks in certain areas of Huoshenshan Hospital, including the wards. Li Hai organized workers to repair the leaks in the middle of the night.
Since Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospitals were urgently built and did not have property management, medical waste was incinerated on-site, but domestic waste could not be processed in a timely manner. Li Hai said that some patients would throw garbage into the toilet drains in the wards, causing frequent blockages. Workers had to immediately enter and repair the drains at the risk of infection. "If an N95 mask is thrown in, it will definitely cause a blockage, and the risk of repair is high."
Both hospitals have red zones and yellow zones, which are contaminated and semi-contaminated areas. If workers need to enter these areas, they need to be properly protected. The on-site medical staff will check whether their protective measures are in place.
The aforementioned employee of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau mentioned that after treating patients, some workers would go to repair the ventilation ducts. The ventilation ducts do not completely belong to the red or yellow zones. They cover the entire hospital and directly lead to the wards. When workers repair them, they usually wear full protective gear, but there is still some risk, and it is impossible to guarantee that nothing will go wrong.
After the workers were evacuated, some of them underwent nucleic acid and CT tests. The testing costs were covered by the company. "They didn't show any symptoms on the surface, but many of them were found to have lung opacities."
All confirmed and suspected patients have been treated, and the treatment costs are fully covered. Currently, there have been no deaths. However, the staff still cannot afford to be complacent. On March 16th, a doctor came to train them. "The doctor said that some confirmed patients have negative nucleic acid results due to drug suppression, and these patients have not yet developed antibodies, so there is a possibility of recurrence," said the aforementioned employee of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau.
In addition, many workers have not undergone nucleic acid and CT tests. Zhang Xiaoming, a worker, led a team of about 100 people to the construction site of Leishenshan on February 12th. He volunteered after seeing the news and his company reported them to China Construction Third Engineering Bureau for unified management. He worked at Leishenshan for 4 days and told the "Financial" reporter that none of his team members were arranged for tests.
During his time at Leishenshan, he met another worker. When they were in isolation, he heard that the other worker had been infected, but he couldn't contact him. "In this environment, it is expected that someone will get infected. We are mentally prepared, and the government has provided sufficient guarantees, including protective measures and follow-up treatment."
Cannot be considered "stranded personnel"
On January 24th, Huoshenshan Hospital started construction, and on January 26th, Leishenshan Hospital started construction. In order to meet the deadline, a large number of workers were recruited, and it is difficult to accurately calculate the total number of workers involved in the construction. The aforementioned employee of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau told the "Financial" reporter that there were at least 8,000 workers involved in the construction.
Zhang Xu came from his hometown in Northeast China to Wuhan, and it has been a month. His fellow workers from Wuhan told him that they could come to Wuhan to participate in the construction of Leishenshan Hospital. They would be provided with food and accommodation, and they would earn 1,000 yuan per day. He and six other workers rushed to Wuhan together.
On February 4th, Huoshenshan admitted patients, and on February 8th, Leishenshan admitted patients. Around February 28th, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospitals entered the operational stage, and most of the workers had already left. Only about 100 workers remained for post-maintenance work. The evacuated workers need to undergo a 14-day quarantine observation period. Several workers involved in the construction told the "Financial" reporter that they initially received a notification that they could quarantine at their hometowns instead of locally.
But things quickly changed. On February 13th, two out of 69 construction workers from Hunan Xiangtan who were quarantined in their hometowns were diagnosed with COVID-19. Immediately after, a new policy came out - all workers who were evacuated from the two hospitals were not allowed to return to their hometowns and had to be quarantined in Wuhan.
Due to the large number of workers and the fact that they came from different construction teams, all of them signed labor contracts with outsourcing companies, making it difficult for China Construction Third Engineering Bureau to manage them all centrally. According to the "Financial" reporter, some workers are quarantined in hotels, while many others are staying in temporary board houses at suspended construction sites. Due to limited resources, many workers have to share a room with another person. One worker told the "Financial" reporter that he was previously arranged to be quarantined in a cabin in Hankou North, but when he moved in, the cabin was filled with volunteers and workers who needed to be quarantined.
After the 14-day quarantine period, local workers in Wuhan can return home on their own, but the aforementioned employee of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau said that local workers in Wuhan account for about 20%, and most of them are non-local workers.
During the quarantine period, each worker will receive a subsidy of about 5,000 yuan in total. Non-local workers will receive an additional transportation subsidy of several hundred yuan for their return journey. The subsidies will be directly deposited into the workers' personal accounts. After the 14-day period, the subsidies will stop.
Zhang Xu said that now the daily accommodation and food expenses alone cost at least 120 yuan. He heard that Wuhan provides a subsidy of 300 yuan per day for stranded individuals, so he called the mayor's hotline to apply, but was told that he had to register through the community. When he contacted the community, they said he did not fall into the category of stranded individuals. "Only those who arrived in Wuhan before the city was locked down are considered stranded individuals."
An employee of the Wuhan Municipal Government told the "Financial" reporter that the workers all have companies, so they are not considered "stranded individuals". "They are workers who came to Wuhan for work."
Zhang Xiaoming found a new job after the quarantine period. He first went to Caidian District to build a new isolation point, and then went to Wuhan Women's Prison to set up an isolation point. "These are all emergency projects, and the workers are basically working continuously without time to sleep, so there is no need to find a place to stay."
Zhang Xiaoming's attitude is still positive. His hometown is Shiyan, Hubei, and he has been working in Wuhan. Before the Spring Festival, he planned to return to his hometown, but Wuhan was locked down and he couldn't leave. "I don't care about short-term income. I just hope that Wuhan can return to its previous state as soon as possible."
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