Visitors panicked as Ikea premises were ordered to close immediately due to COVID-19
SHANGHAI: Visitors to a leading furniture supermarket in China panicked and tried to rush out when the premises were ordered to close immediately due to the COVID-19 infection.
In an incident on Saturday, the Ikea supermarket in Shanghai was ordered to close after the city’s health authorities found evidence of close contact with a case of COVID-19 at the location.
Several videos on social media showed customers screaming and pushing each other in an attempt to escape the building before the doors closed.
It is understood that visitors who did not have time to go out had to undergo quarantine in the detention camp.
In a press briefing on Sunday, Shanghai Health Commission Deputy Director Zhao Dandan said the affected shops and areas would be under ‘closed loop’ management for two days.
Those in the circle have to undergo a two-day quarantine at a government facility and five days of health surveillance.
On Monday, the city’s health authorities reported six local cases of COVID-19 in Shanghai, of which five were asymptomatic.
The Ikea supermarket in Shanghai’s Xuhui district was temporarily closed on Sunday and Monday in reaction to “epidemic prevention guidelines” by authorities and reopened on Tuesday, CNN reported .
Shanghai, China’s financial capital with a population of 25 million, underwent a two-month curfew earlier this year.
The move sparked public anger as residents reported difficulty ordering daily necessities including food and medicine.
The curfew was imposed under China’s strict ‘Zero-COVID’ policy, which relies on mass testing, widespread quarantines and city-wide curfews to eliminate re-infection of the virus.
source – Astro Awani
