We’ve got some crazy video out Shanghai, China, of customers being locked in an IKEA store. They can be seen fighting to get out as security guards were forcing them back in.
What happened? Covid. Yes, Covid.
On Saturday, the store went into lockdown after a customer was believed to have had close contact with a Covid patient. China has some of the strictest Covid protocols in the world. Even now.
They shut that store down and tried to lock everyone inside. In the video, you can see customers rushing the doors to try and get out. It’s crazy.
Some did manage to get out. Others were taken to a quarantine hotel. Can you imagine?
CNN reports that the IKEA store and affected area would be under a “closed loop” management for two days. People inside the “closed loop” must undergo two days of quarantine at a government facility and five days of surveillance.
Shanghai has 25 million people living there. It was on lockdown for two months earlier this year.
China has a strict zero-Covid policy. Mass testing. Extensive quarantines. Even confinement of entire cities.
The BBC reports residents have been seen in heated arguments with authorities. Screaming from windows protesting Covid restrictions.
It’s a tale of two countries. China and the United States. We have learned to live with Covid.
USA Today is reporting that four major cruise lines are dropping their vaccination requirements for “some” sailings next month. Not all, but some.
Forbes reports that the CDC has loosened Covid guidelines and dropped quarantines after exposure.
The agency has even said unvaccinated Americans no longer need to quarantine after exposure. The CDC has also said schools no longer need to conduct routine Covid testing.
Why? The agency says its looser guidelines were driven by a reduced risk of severe Covid. CDC epidemiologist Greta Massetti says this: “This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where Covid-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”
Finally. Finally, Covid is starting to be something we can live with while conducting our daily lives. It took a long time to get here.
As for China, they aren’t there yet. Nowhere near. As for getting trapped in a Shanghai IKEA, I hope they had plenty of meatballs.