Shanghai is transforming residential buildings into quarantine centres in order to hold an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, but the action has sparked outrage and protest from residents who fear they will be exposed to the virus.
About 30 people wearing hazmat suits with the word ‘police’ on their backs were seen scuffling with other people outside a housing compound on Thursday afternoon, dragging at least one person away in an event livestreamed on Chinese messaging app WeChat.
A woman could be heard sobbing as she filmed the scenario, which was watched by over 10,000 people until it was cut short due to ‘hazardous material,’ according to the WeChat livestream site.
‘It’s not that I don’t want to cooperate with the country,’ the woman who was filming said. ‘How would you feel if you live in a building where the blocks are only 10 metres (30 feet) apart, everyone has tested negative, and these people are allowed in?’
Although the video could not be independently authenticated, the building’s administration confirmed the dispute on Friday.
The Zhangjiang Group, which owns the site, said authorities had converted five of its unoccupied buildings into isolation units and that another nine will be converted soon.
It stated it had relocated 39 rental tenants to different portions of the compound and compensated them.
‘Some tenants obstructed the building site on the afternoon of April 14, when our firm organised the installation of the separation fence,’ the group said in a statement, adding that the matter has now been handled.
A resident of the compound, which is near to the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park complex, which houses companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Hewlett-Packard, verified that inhabitants were forced to leave on Tuesday.
Workers arrived on Thursday afternoon, and police arrived shortly thereafter, according to a witness. Because of the sensitivity of the matter, she declined to be identified.
‘This place is utterly unfit to become a quarantine centre,’ she remarked, fearful of contracting the illness due to her proximity to the patients.
According to China’s zero-COVID policy, anyone who tests positive for the virus must quarantine at designated sites for 14 days, while neighbours are asked to isolate in their homes. This has stoked public fear of the virus’s consequences.
Since the virus was initially identified in Wuhan in late 2019, Shanghai has been the epicentre of China’s greatest outbreak, with more than 300,000 COVID cases recorded since March.
The city has begun converting schools, recently completed housing buildings, and exhibition halls into quarantine centres, and stated last week that it had set up over 160,000 beds across over 100 makeshift hospitals.
Authorities in China are entitled to take over buildings and other properties in order to cope with emergency circumstances, according to legislation.
According to reports on social media, cities across the country have occupied facilities to lodge quarantined residents, causing concerns from those forced to leave.
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