The fear of confinement for a single contact case caused panic scenes in Shanghai last weekend in an Ikea store, according to viral images verified by AFP.
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China applies a strict health strategy in the face of COVID-19: quarantine of people who test positive, targeted confinements or generalized and compulsory PCR tests.
In the spring, the economic capital Shanghai had been confined for two long months, in response to the worst epidemic outbreak in the country for two years.
On Saturday for a single contact case in an Ikea store, the authorities tried to retain all customers of the Swedish furniture giant, with a view to quarantine.
Videos widely shared on social media show families blocked in the store by glass doors.
In other images, customers can be seen rushing out through what appears to be an emergency exit from the Ikea store in Xuhui district.
Security guards overwhelmed by the crowd struggle to keep the doors closed.
This kind of scene is not unusual in China.
Also in Shanghai, employees took to their heels on Friday following a contact case in an office building in Huangpu district, according to images verified by AFP.
The draconian measures to fight once morest the virus, including the systematic placement of positive cases in quarantine centers, have recently provoked the exasperation of part of the population in China.
At the start of the month, 80,000 tourists were confined to the tropical island of Hainan (south), a popular destination in China at this time of year.
While some have since been able to return to their hometowns, tens of thousands of vacationers remain trapped on the island.
Exasperated, one party protested last weekend, demanding a meeting with local officials, according to footage verified by AFP.
China reported 2,368 new local positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Since 2020, the country has kept its borders closed for foreign tourists, due to the pandemic.
