A sudden lockdown at an Ikea store in Shanghai over the weekend created a chaotic scene as masked shoppers ran for the exits amid an effort to quarantine those inside the store after authorities learned several customers had been exposed to the coronavirus. Videos of the rush were widely shared on social media, in part because they underscored the growing divide between China, where officials are enforcing a strict “zero-coronavirus” policy through mass testing and rapid restrictions, and many other parts of the world where business has resumed as usual, even though coronavirus cases remain high. The videos were removed from Chinese social media platforms shortly after they were posted. In a statement released Sunday, Shanghai Health Commission deputy director Zhao Dandan said a 6-year-old boy tested positive for the coronavirus and had been in close contact with many people who went to Ikea in the city’s Xuhui district. Zhao did not disclose when the close contacts were in the store. IKEA Xuhui in Shanghai wanted to ban entry and exit to cooperate with epidemiological investigations, scaring customers to leave quickly. Don’t go shopping in China until the virus is gone, remember. pic.twitter.com/dAWbpbln7v — Fang Zhouzi (@fangshimin) August 14, 2022 According to the BBC, the child tested positive after returning to Shanghai from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. He remains asymptomatic and is under medical observation by the Chinese authorities. In a viral video, confused shoppers can be seen trapped inside the Swedish-founded furniture store, pushing trolleys and carrying shopping bags. Some were separated from their companions by glass doors. In the background, a store closing announcement plays over a loudspeaker. In one clip, angry shoppers fight security guards at what appears to be a back door or fire exit. A call to the store Monday afternoon went straight to voicemail. Shanghai health authorities require contacts who visited the Ikea store to self-quarantine for two days and undergo five days of health checks. On Monday, the city of 25 million recorded six positive cases of the coronavirus, five of whom were asymptomatic. More than 400 close contacts of the 6-year-old boy were identified. 80,000 people who had a loose connection to the child were ordered to take PCR tests, according to a weekend press release from the Shanghai Health Commission. China is one of the only countries in the world to adopt a zero-coronavirus policy – ordering mass testing and long-term quarantines in isolation centers and at home. In April, Shanghai was ordered to undergo a grueling two-month lockdown, causing a mental health crisis and leaving thousands of residents without a steady food supply. The appearance of the BA.5 variant sparked fears of another harsh lockdown in the city. In a June speech in Wuhan, where the first case of the coronavirus was discovered, Chinese President Xi Jinping said a “dynamic zero-coronavirus policy” ensured the overall safety and health of the population, “even if it temporarily affects economic growth. .” Eva Dou in Beijing contributed to this report.
