A viral video shows panicked Shanghai shoppers scrambling to break out of an Ikea store after authorities declare a snap lockdown.
Just moments after the lockdown was announced, a mob of shoppers successfully barged through a door being held by several security guards and dashed out, video showed. Shanghai’s lockdown was apparently declared when a shopper was found to have had close contact with a 6-year-old asymptomatic COVID-19 patient, causing Chinese authorities to attempt to quarantine everyone in the building, according to Bloomberg. Doors were flung open as the crowd streamed out, the footage showed.
上海徐汇宜家要禁止出入配合流行病学调查，吓得顾客赶快逃亡。在病毒被消灭之前不要在中国逛商场，切记。 pic.twitter.com/dAWbpbln7v
— 方舟子 (@fangshimin) August 14, 2022
In the footage, an announcement can be heard on the intercom saying authorities have declared the store on lockdown, barring people from entering or leaving. Video showed five security guards attempting to close the entrance, but a mob of shoppers overpowered them and ran out.
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Those unable to escape posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, that they were sealed in the store from 8 p.m. to midnight, at which point health officials transported them to quarantine facilities, the report said.
Ikea Shanghai Xuhui, the first Ikea store in China, was closed Sunday and Monday as a precaution. The store is set to reopen Tuesday.
Authorities documented 400 close contacts with the asymptomatic COVID-19 patient, according to the Telegraph, possibly prompting many snap lockdowns. Eighty thousand residents have been required to take PCR tests in connection to these cases.
Roughly 25 million Shanghai residents have rebelled against China’s “Zero COVID” measures. China’s largest city has been forced under extreme lockdowns this year, despite the economic and social toll. The latest of these measures see entire buildings or districts completely sealed with little warning, often prompting mass panic.
Hainan dystopia: running away from someone who’s got a red health code. https://t.co/JeKi13kJxm
— Dali L. Yang (@Dali_Yang) August 14, 2022
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Despite these precautions, COVID-19 cases in China have soared in recent days. Health authorities documented over 20,000 confirmed cases every day since Aug. 9, according to the World Health Organization.
