On Saturday, there were tumultuous scenes at an Ikea store in Shanghai, with customers attempting to flee as staff members tried to isolate them.
An attempt was being made by health inspectors to close down the store in the Xuhui district because a consumer had been in close proximity to a positive Covid case.
Videos show the guards at one point closing the doors, but a throng forced them open, allowing the inmates to go.
Earlier this year, Shanghai experienced a brutal two-month lockdown.
Since then, the 20 million-person city has mandated flash lockdowns in regions where positive cases or their close contacts have been discovered in accordance with the nation’s strict “zero-Covid” plan.
Many people have been imprisoned in unexpected places, such as hot pot restaurants, gyms, and offices.
A six-year-old youngster who tested positive after returning to Shanghai from Lhasa in Tibet had a close contact who had recently visited, according to Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission, who ordered the store’s abrupt closure.
He did not specify the precise time that the close contact is thought to have visited the shop.
According to Mr. Zhao, everyone who visited the Ikea shop and nearby regions must undergo a two-day quarantine and five days of health monitoring.
According to Shanghai Daily, by Sunday nearly 400 of the six-year-old boy’s close contacts had been located and 80,000 people had been instructed to undergo PCR testing. The boy has no symptoms.
On Sunday, Ikea’s customer service reported that the closure was a result of Covid restrictions.
The first outlet for the Swedish furniture retailer in China was the flagship Xuhui store, which debuted in 1998. There are currently 35 locations for it nationwide.
Despite the significant negative effects on the economy and the public’s growing vociferous opposition, China has maintained its zero-Covid strategy for limiting the development of the coronavirus.
The displays of terror at Ikea come after videos last week showing people fleeing a building in another area of Shanghai due to rumors of an anomalous situation of Covid test result.
There were several allegations of food shortages and bad living conditions in quarantine centers during Shanghai’s citywide lockdown earlier this year.
During this period, angry residents were seen screaming out of windows in protest at the restrictions and getting into heated arguments with medical workers.
