A 5-story hotel used for coronavirus quarantine collapsed in China. People are demanding an investigation.

Hotel collapse in Quanzhou, China.
(Image credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images)

While new cases appear to be slowing in China, the country is still reeling from fallout and criticism over its response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

That was on full display Saturday when a five-story hotel in Quanzhou, China, used to quarantine people potentially exposed to COVID-19 after traveling to the epicenter, Hubei province, collapsed Saturday, reportedly trapping around 70 people. It is not clear if anyone has died, but Reuters reports 34 people have been rescued in the hours after the hotel collapsed.

A woman staying under quarantine at another hotel said she tried contacting her relatives who were in the hotel and are reportedly healthy, but has not yet been able to reach them. She said she's "very worried."

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Some people are reportedly demanding an investigation into how the hotel collapsed, the reason for which is not currently known. But, either way, the incident will likely do little to quell anger directed at Beijing from China's citizenry over how the government has handled the COVID-19 outbreak from the beginning. Read more at Reuters.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.