On April 28, after receiving their wages and allowances that had been delayed for nearly a month, 17 epidemic prevention security guards in Shanghai were forced to leave Dejin Garden Community in Pudong New Area. That night, Shanghai experienced rain and a temperature drop, and they slept under a bridge in a nearby park.
‘Epidemic prevention workers' was the official term used for them on the local attendance record. For over a month, they did not know how to define their identity. In name, they were referred to as 'volunteers' by community residents and neighborhood committee workers. In reality, they were 'workers' in Shanghai’s ongoing COVID-19 prevention efforts, recruited as 'epidemic prevention security guards' through security companies and intermediaries.
Several security team members reported to China Youth Daily and China Youth Online that they encountered issues such as 'deceptive recruitment,' the team leader going missing, and delayed payment of wages and allowances.