Shoppers Trapped in Uniqlo Shanghai for 48 Hours – WWD

Shoppers at Uniqlo on Shanghai’s Nanjing West Road were trapped inside the flagship for 48 hours after a suspected case of COVID-19 was traced to the store location.

Unsuspecting customers browsing on Thursday had to test swabs and were told to spend a night in the store down the street with brand staff before they could leave. Similar scenarios played out last week at Plaza 1788 and the Jiuguang department store, located on the main Nanjing Road. retail lifeline, as well as the Global Harbor shopping mall. Additionally, Plaza 66 had cases traced on January 6 and 10 at Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton stores. The Louis Vuitton store inside Plaza 66 had to close for half a day before reopening, although the mall itself has not yet shut down.

Chinese social media is flooded with photos of people sleeping in closed cafes and shops and the aisles of malls while waiting for a two-day period. They are provided with basic necessities such as blankets, toiletries and food.

One Weibo user said: “On my way home from work, I passed Uniqlo and I decided to take a quick look. “I was less than two minutes in when a broadcast in the store announced they were closed. Then all of a sudden I’m stuck in Uniqlo. I waited five hours before the bandage was taken and I am still waiting for the results.”

Several residential areas around the city are also considered COVID-19 hotspots. Residents are prohibited from leaving their residence until 48-hour checks and contact tracing are complete. All confirmed COVID-19 cases are placed in hotel quarantine for two weeks.

In November, a single positive case at Shanghai Disneyland asked about 34,000 people in the park to get tested before leaving. However, these waiting times and lockdowns pale in comparison to what cities to the north are suffering.

China is fighting to contain a new COVID-19 outbreak just before the Chinese New Year and Beijing Winter Olympics, adhering to a strict zero COVID-19 approach. It has been placed 20 million people are under strict lockdown including Xian, Anyang and Yuyang. Xi’an residents have been isolated in their homes for nearly a month. Tianjin, a satellite city close to Beijing, has ordered the city’s entire population of 14 million to be tested twice, forcing residents to wait in long lines for hours in the winter cold.

Although these stringent measures have added social and economic costs – Xi’an residents complain of food shortages and outrage over deaths after patients not taking COVID- 19 were denied hospital admissions – these abrupt closures also make for more humorous and lighthearted moments. The video blogs of a Zhengzhou woman went viral after she posted about being trapped for days in the apartment of a discreet date that her parents arranged.