Process explained for foreigners

As of yesterday, the purchase of face masks to protect against novel coronavirus in Shanghai is regulated by government ration.

Residents need to register with neighborhood or village committees — Shanghai has around 6,000 — to receive a coupon which allows each household to buy five masks at designated pharmacies.

What do you need?

Your passport;

A copy of your Registration Form of Temporary Residence, which is the form given to you when you registered with your local police.

The procedure

Look around your housing complex for a posted notice that explains the procedure of applying for a face mask coupon. Mine was located on the entry door of each building and not on the bulletin boards. (All notices are in Chinese, but if you can’t read it then you can use the camera function on Google Translate which will tell you the details in real time.)

Go to the address at the time stipulated with your passport and Registration Form of Temporary Residence.

Hand the documents over to the staff on duty and they will note your details down. You will need to give them your contact number, too.

Take the coupon the staff gives you and wait for a call — you can’t go directly to the designated pharmacy until your time comes.

How long does it take?

The registration process takes about five minutes and is fairly straight forward. It may take longer if you have to queue up.

Receiving a call telling you that it’s your turn to go to the designated pharmacy to pick up your five masks depends on your situation.

The earlier you register the sooner you will receive a call. For example if you’re the first to register you will be the first to get a call.

At present the time frame is largely unknown since the system only began yesterday. Good luck! Check out the video by scanning the QR code to see how my registration process went.

Editor’s note:

Andy Boreham comes from New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington, and has lived in China, off and on, for the past six years. He welcomes your feedback on all of the issues he covers. You can reach him at andy.boreham@shine.cn.