RESIDENTS of the Zhaotong neighborhood were returning home last night after spending two weeks in quarantine.

The neighborhood, in downtown Huangpu District, was downgraded from medium to low risk at 6pm.

The area was put inlockdownon January 21 after some residents living in the area were diagnosed with COVID-19. About 2,000 of its residents were evacuated to hotels.

Although three new local patients were diagnosed on Wednesday, two of them were close contacts of early patients, and the third lives in the same residential area with an early confirmed case. All of them have been quarantined since January 21 and 22, said Wu Jinglei, director of Shanghai’s health commission.

“They are on the chain of transmission so the epidemic in the city is still under control,” said Wu Fan, deputy director of Fudan University’s medical college and a leading expert from Shanghai’s COVID-19 medical team.

The first batch of residents returned to Zhaotong by bus at around 6:30pm.

“We’ve received attentive care from the workers,” said a middle-aged womansurnamedHu, who was getting off the bus with her luggage. “I was impressed at how they’ve been delivering food for every one of us, it was not easy as they had to cater for our taste preferences.”

Husaid her family had not made any plans yet for the Spring Festival, but they would be having a good rest.

A woman with a pink backpack left the bus along with her snowy furry pet dog.

“I really appreciated that we were allowed to bring pets for the quarantine,” she said. “My ‘Big White’ has been looked after well at the hotel.”

“The government has taken really precise control of the (virus) situation,” said a mansurnamedHuang, who was on the second bus.

“Screening, quarantine and four rounds of nucleic acid tests have been carried out really efficiently,” he said.

Apart from the residents, people stuck at three chain hotels inside the area —Homeinns, JI Hotel,JitaiHotel — also expressed their gratitude and joy at the lifting of quarantine.

A workersurnamedLiuat JI Hotel said they received tremendous support and understanding from the guests, as well as supplies from the local culture and tourism bureau.

Besides her, four of her colleagues and 76 guests at the hotel have been freed.

“I’m so thrilled to be finally going home,” saidZhangXiaoli, landlord ofHomeinns, who, together with her family, has spent the quarantine in her hotel.

Zhangadmitted that the first and last couple of days were tough, during which they chose to watch TV and their phones to pass the time. A total of 30 people were quarantined atHomeinns and they had taken four nucleic acid tests during the period, according toZhang.

Pan, a resident who lives across the street, has been feeding the cats inside the empty Zhaotong neighborhood.

Pan was dubbed “Cat Mommy” by the neighbors, as she had adopted six stray cats.

She said she bought over 20 kilograms of pet food. She would drop the food at the gate of the neighborhood, accessible for the kittens.

“I’ve been friends with these kittens since a long time ago,” she said. “I could not stand aside and see them dying due to a lack of food. It’s satisfying to know my neighbors are coming back.”

The transfer of residents is still in progress and the local government is ensuring that they can all return home safely and as soon as possible.

So far, there are 21 local COVID-19 patients from the recent outbreak. Over 380 close contacts have been tracked, with 14 confirmed. More than 80,000 related people have taken the nucleic acid tests, with four of them testing positive. And 35 of the 5,180 samples taken from the COVID-19 patients’ homes and workplaces returned positive.

Shanghai also reported two imported cases on Wednesday. One is a Chinese living in Canada who arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on January 31. The second patient is a Chinese who traveled to the United Arab Emirates for business and returned on February 1. They are receiving treatment at a designated hospital.