Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

This is the moment a Chinese man who sneaked out to the shops from a quarantine zone started a manhunt when supermarket staff discovered he had a slight fever – only to be cleared of infection when he was caught and checked again.

The incident happened in the city of Danjiangkou in China’s central Hubei Province – the worst hit by the disease now called COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation.

According to the police, Mr Yang, 35, managed to escape mandatory isolation by scaling the walls of his otherwise locked-down gated community on the morning of 9th February.

CCTV footage shows him turning up at the entrance of a Haolinju Supermarket, only for a staff member to screen him with a digital thermometer, which returned a temperature of 38.3 degrees Celsius.

Fearing he may be caught and quarantined as a potential COVID-19 carrier – and for leaving his home when he should not have – Mr Yang is seen turning and sprinting away from the shop, hoping to return to his gated community and escape the pursuit.

Local authorities led by Junzhou Police Station Chief Zhang Yunhua can be seen searching his residential district and finally finding him with the help of his neighbours.

Mr Yang was tested a second time and found to have a regular body temperature, and no symptoms of COVID-19.

He was let off with a warning for violating the province’s emergency isolation measures, the police said.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.