The images of the panic scenes went around the world. In Shanghai on Saturday, customers were filmed running to try to escape from an Ikea store before health authorities closed the doors to quarantine them, suspecting a case of covid-19 inside.
Several videos massively shared on social networks they show scenes of chaos: patrons running, pushing, and shoving their way out of the building at all costs, while security guards try to keep the doors closed and contain patrons inside.
Two days “in closed circuit”
On Saturday afternoon, Chinese health authorities ordered the immediate closure of the Ikea store because they suspected a customer was in contact. A 6-year-old boy who tested positive in Lhasa, Tibet, had visited this Ikea store before, according to information from the deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission on Sunday. It is not known, however, when exactly the (asymptomatic) child went to the store.
During this press conference, Zhao Dandan also stated that “the store and the affected area” would be managed “in closed circuit” for two days. Therefore, customers who were unable to leave the store were locked inside from 8 p.m. to midnight, before being transferred to available hotels for quarantine measures, according to the report. Bloomberg a woman found stranded.
Therefore, the latter are forced to remain in quarantine for two days, then they will remain under sanitary surveillance for five days. The Ikea store is expected to reopen on Tuesday.
On Sunday, health authorities explained that the little boy had been in close contact with almost 400 people. Separately, 80,000 people were forced to undergo PCR tests, according to the newspaper. Shanghai Daily.
Drastic restriction measures
Drastic health restrictions have been put in place in China in recent months as part of the zero-Covid policy: massive use of screening tests, extended quarantines and confinement of entire cities. Such instant lockdowns are not uncommon in the country: when a contact case is detected, residents of a district or building are sometimes strictly prohibited from leaving the area for a set period.
In recent months, this could lead to scenes of panic, such as in Schenzen or Hainan Island where individuals had jumped over fences, swept the beach and hurriedly left their buildings after learning that lockdowns were to be imposed on them. .
The city of Shanghai, with a population of 25 million, was placed under a strict lockdown for two months last spring, sparking widespread anger among the population, who faced difficulties accessing food and medicine. On Monday, the city’s health authorities said that 2,312 new cases of covid-19 had been registered in Shanghai.
Source: BFM TV
