Community guards ensure residents’ safety
Gatekeepers endure long hours to keep their neighborhoods free from infection. Yang Zekun reports.
Having donned goggles, a face mask and gloves and brought out his thermometer gun, 39-year-old Li Guibao was ready for his 7 pm shift.
He wasn’t working at a hospital, but at the check-in center of Fengyayuan community in Beijing’s Changping district.
As overly cautious as it may appear, Li’s employer said the equipment is essential to prevent its community security guards from becoming infected with the novel coronavirus.
The guards interact with hundreds of people every day, identifying community members and excluding nonresidents, which puts them at a heightened risk of contracting the virus.
“We security guards and staff members of the local government had never done the job of testing and checking before,” Li said.
I am doing what I can to help people during the epidemic. All we are doing is our duty, which is to keep our community safe.” Wang Zedong,
Daily work
In addition to checking people’s temperatures and entry permits, the guards have to examine all car trunks to ensure no one is hidden inside, Li said.
He said the checks started after Feb 21, when an inmate who had been released from a women’s prison in Wuhan, Hubei province, entered Beijing illegally.
The woman had become infected in Wuhan, one of the places hardesthit by the coronavirus outbreak, after coming into contact with people who had the virus, so the situation could have turned serious if she hadn’t been detained.
Li hails from Ulaanqab, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. He joined Tianhongbaodi, the property management company, in September 2015 and started work in Fengyayuan community, which has more than 2,000 residents.
He comes into contact with at least 600 people every day, with the peak time being 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm.
Recently, the number has risen as epidemic restrictions have been eased and residents have started taking walks after dinner, he said.
“Honestly, I was afraid to be in contact with so many people when the epidemic started. I had no idea who they had interacted with and where they’d been before entering the community, but that feeling has abated after more than two and a half months,” he said.
He recalled how he tested a man whose temperature was higher than 37.3 C, a level that could indicate a fever, which made both of them quite nervous. Li asked the man to remain calm and rest for a while before he took his temperature again. The second check showed that the man was fine.
If someone’s temperature exceeds 37.3 C three times in a row, the guards direct them to the fever clinic of a designated hospital to be checked by medical professionals.
If the person isn’t infected, a doctor can issue a certificate to explain the cause of the fever. The only way someone with a persistently high temperature (unrelated to the virus) can enter the community is by showing such a certificate.
Li’s shift ends at 3 am, so he sleeps until late in the morning. His new day starts about 1:30 pm, when he and his colleagues undertake community patrols to check potential safety hazards from fire, electricity and water sources.
“Those regular tasks can’t be ignored during the epidemic prevention and control period,” Li said.
He had planned to take a few days off to visit his parents in Ulaanqab, but his vacation was postponed due to the outbreak.
Since Spring Festival, he has called his parents several times to apologize for not visiting them.
Having expressed concerns about Li’s safety, his family was relieved to learn that he is fully protected while on duty.
Eight security guards work in Li’s community. The gate is usually guarded by two people at a time to ensure the checks can be conducted smoothly. Irrespective of the weather, the guards take turns to stand outside so everyone can be tested.
“In recent months, Beijing has had several snowy, rainy and windy days, and I stood in the snow for two hours before my colleague could replace me. It was so cold that I could not even turn on my phone because the battery drained so quickly,” Li said.
The bad weather also affected security guard Wang Zedong and his colleagues in Guangtong community, Tongzhou district, when they were on duty at the gate in their community.
“In February, the company provided two awnings to cover us, but the wind and rain broke them. Instead, we had to stand outside without shelter until the local government gave us a 12-square-meter tent as cover,” Wang said.
Understaffed
Wang comes from Handan, Hebei province. The 36-year-old started working in the community in July 2016. Since early January, his phone has been turned on 24 hours a day so he won’t miss any calls from residents or colleagues.
Originally, there were 19 guards in Wang’s community, but eight went home in February and haven’t yet returned. The lack of manpower means Wang, who lives in a company dormitory in the community, spends almost the whole day on duty at the gate.
“In addition to the checking and testing work at the gate, we guards need to undertake more regular community patrols and checks than before,” he said.
The community is home to more than 2,000 people. At the peak of the outbreak, fewer people entered or left the compound, but as a growing number venture outside and migrant workers begin returning to Beijing, each guard may interact with about 900 people a day.
The heavy workload and lack of virus-related training meant some of Wang’s colleagues were initially fearful.
They encouraged each other to overcome the fear before going on duty, and now the stress is fading.
“Of course we feel worried when we discover that some residents have coughs and sneezes, but fear will not help us. We still need to interact with people and ask about the causes of their symptoms,” Wang said.
He noted that the epidemic has left both guards and residents feeling concerned, so sometimes they all need to control their nerves.
Some seniors in Wang’s community are in poor health and they have to call an ambulance to take them to the hospital when they feel unwell.
Every time an ambulance departs, Wang and his colleagues receive dozens of phone calls from residents asking why an ambulance had been in the community and if anyone had been infected.
The guards need to explain the situation to every caller, meaning the calls can last until midnight.
Ji Pengfei, 35, also from Handan, is a security guard in Hepingcun community, which has over 6,000 residents, in Chaoyang district. His team also has a manpower shortage.
In March, one of his colleagues developed a gastric ulcer, but he insisted on continuing to work after Ji took him to the local hospital for treatment.
“He knows we are short of staff members, so if he takes time off his colleagues will have to work his shifts,” Ji said.
The guards in Ji’s community work two shifts at the gate over a 24-hour period, and each one checks more than 1,200 people a day.
As team leader, Ji is on 24-hour call. He has lived in the community’s dorm since he started working there in October 2017.
Lack of understanding
While the security guards need to settle their nerves every day, some residents are uncooperative and others even scold the guards for doing their jobs.
“Some residents, especially in the first month (of the lockdown), thought our actions were useless and caused inconvenience,” Wang said. “Some thought we were looking at them in a questioning way and said they were in good health. They asked why we had to take their temperature.”
Wang recalled a woman who returned from a supermarket with bags of shopping in both hands.
When Wang took her temperature and asked to see her entry permit, the woman scolded him.
“Are you blind? Can’t you see the things in my hands? Why are you only checking me rather than other people?” she said.
Wang held her bags so she could show him her permit. He politely explained that everyone needed to be checked, and that all the other residents had shown their passes and had their temperatures taken.
Although that sort of behavior and aggressive attitude saddens Wang and his colleagues, they insist on doing their duty because they know that if any unchecked people entered the community, the 2,000-plus residents could be placed at risk.
“We work for the safety of the community. We are on call 24 hours a day — we can bear the extreme weather, but sometimes distrust and misunderstandings by residents make us unhappy,” Wang said.
Ji Pengfei has also dealt with uncooperative residents. When he was checking a car trunk in late February, the driver refused to answer questions and accused Ji of invading his privacy.
He questioned the guards in an aggressive manner, asking what authority they had to check his car.
“I was angry, but I still needed to explain patiently and politely and show him our documents. His feelings were understandable, but our job is to offer residents the best service possible. We still need their support and understanding, though,” Ji said.
To make people’s lives more convenient, Ji has led his workmates in voluntarily helping to deliver packages to residents in quarantine who could not be visited by outsiders, and also helped dispose of their garbage.
Missing home
Ji hasn’t been able to celebrate Spring Festival in his hometown for three years.
Instead, he has always opted to stay at his post and help his colleagues because he regards them as family and views the community as his home.
“Although I have many friends here, it would be untrue if I said I don’t miss my parents, wife and 9-year-old son. We haven’t met for more than six months, and I only see them via WeChat every weekend,” he said.
“My wife and I had arranged to meet in Beijing during Spring Festival, but that plan was scrapped because of the epidemic. Next time my family comes to Beijing, I want to take them to visit the famous tourist spots.”
Instead of promising his son a trip to Beijing, Wang bought a box of face masks, which he sent home at Spring Festival. He paid a high price for the masks, even though he only earns about 3,500 yuan ($493) a month.
“In January, there was a shortage of masks in my hometown, so I searched for several nights and bought some. I hoped they would carry my blessings and love to my family. I owe them a lot and want to thank them by doing everything I can,” he said.
Wang has forged close friendships with some colleagues and residents. They appreciate his hard work in keeping the community safe, which has eased his unhappiness at not being able to be with his family at such a tough time.
“I don’t want to overstate my role and I wouldn’t say anyone is proud of being a community security guard, but I am doing what I can to help people during the epidemic. All we are doing is our duty, which is to keep our community safe,” he said.