Shanghai – Chinas business hub, Shanghai is converting residential buildings into quarantine centres to house a mounting number of COVID-19 cases. The move did not go well with residents, sparking anger and protest from neighbours worried they are being put at increased risk of infection.

In an incident livestreamed on Thursday afternoon on Chinese messaging platform WeChat, about 30 people wearing hazmat suits with the word "police" on their back could be seen scuffling with other people outside a housing compound, taking away at least one person, reoprted Reuters.

The Zhangjiang Group, which owns the compound, said authorities had converted five of its vacant buildings into isolation facilities and it had been advised a further nine buildings would be converted.

Under China's zero-COVID policy, everyone who tests positive must quarantine at designated sites and the neighbours are asked to isolate in their homes for 14 days. The current policy has stirred up public fear about the consequences of catching the virus.

Shanghai is the epicentre of China's largest outbreak since the virus was first identified in Wuhan in 2019, recording more than 300,000 COVID infections since March.

Cities across the country have also occupied facilities to house quarantined residents, triggering complaints from people forced to move out, according to reports on social media.
-Reuters