Quarantined COVID patients sleep in camp beds less than a metre apart in Shanghai
Separated by less than an arm's length, people at a quarantine facility in the Chinese city of Shanghai after testing positive for COVID-19 lie in rows of grey camp beds, suitcases and other belongings strewn next to them.
Footage provided to Reuters on Thursday (April 14) by an occupant of the facility showed over a hundred people crammed into a floor of what looked like an office building, one of dozens of places the city has converted into quarantine centers in its battle to stem the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The person who filmed the video, who declined to be identified, said there were at least 200 people there including young children. There were no showers, four shared toilets and they had gotten just plain bread for breakfast, she said.
"This centre is so crowded, everyone is less than a metre apart," the person said. "How do you expect anyone to get better?"
Shanghai has been strictly enforcing quarantine policy, converting schools, recently finished apartment blocks and vast exhibition halls into centres, the largest of which can hold 50,000 people. Authorities said last week they have set up over 60 such facilities. The city reported a new record of 27,719 coronavirus cases on Thursday.