The case was revealed by a series of photos on Chinese social networks.
A woman, believed to be a migrant worker in her 50s, was forced into a phone booth with her dog as authorities in Shanghai moved to lock down much of the city's 26 million to contain the Covid epidemic.
During Shanghai's lockdown, a woman and a dog lived in a phone booth in Shanghai for a month.
She was expelled by police on April 29, 2022. Now she has been found by reporters, and she and her dog are safe.#shanghai #ChinaLockdown #china #COVID19 #Omicron pic.twitter.com/r2L74IN2KX
— Pillar Sen (@PillarVonSen) May 4, 2022
The woman's story has drawn a lot of backlash on top of already existing frustrations from locals facing a prolonged lockdown that has led to widespread food shortages and tough enforcement.
Beyond this affair, some have denounced the existing economic inequalities in the country which have been aggravated by the pandemic.
Indeed, according to Vice world, this woman would be one of the migrant workers who could not find a job when the city stopped.
Unable to pay rent, she carved out a living space for herself in the phone booth, while others like her slept on boxes in parking lots, on makeshift beds under bridges and in tents on the sidewalk. .
“They are left on their own”
"Many migrant workers live hand-to-mouth and rely on their employers to provide them with shelter and food," Pun Ngai, a professor at Hong Kong's Lingnan University who studies Chinese labor, told Vice.
"With most factories and shops closed, they are left to fend for themselves."
However, these migrant workers who do not benefit from real social protection represent almost a third of the workforce in China.
According to Vice, police in white jumpsuits came last week, threw the woman's belongings on the sidewalk and sealed the cabin with duct tape.
This woman would have gone barefoot and disappeared in the rain.
According to the state-run China Youth Daily newspaper, she declined the authorities' offer of accommodation and preferred to be alone.
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But many others living on the streets do not do so by choice.
Faced with this situation, some residents have organized aid for the homeless with the distribution of supplies.