Devotion to duty in lockdown

While most people are working from home during the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, some employees of cultural venues are still at their workplace ensuring a continuity of operations, Zhang Kun reports.

While museums, theaters and art centers in Shanghai have all been closed since the latest COVID-19 outbreak in early March, the venues are not devoid of people, as they allow workers to stay and ensure a continuity of essential operations such as security.

Shanghai Museum director Yang Zhigang was among the employees staying at the museum and two other affiliated locations－the technology center for the protection of cultural relics on Longwu Road, and the relics warehouse in Zhoupu town, Pudong district. Despite the lockdown, Yang hasn't been idle. On March 18, he livestreamed a tour of the museum's exhibition of donated cultural relics with Zhang Haiyan, an anchorwoman from Shanghai Television Station. The exhibition, kicked off on March 10, was forced to close because of the pandemic.

On March 31, Zhu Cheng, deputy Party secretary of the museum, took over Yang's role.

"Our mission is to ensure the safety of relics, the lifeline of a museum," says Zhu. "We also have to make sure that the museum carries out effective measures to contain the virus, so as to ensure everybody's health and safety."

Zhu says the museum was prepared in advance to deal with the situation. Since the pandemic started in 2020, the museum has stocked up on protective equipment for its staff.

"We bought a new batch of supplies in March when the current outbreak started in Shanghai," says Zhu. "According to museum operation protocols, every time people come in contact with material from outside, they have to change into a new suit. This means we go through many sets of protective gear."