Divorces have spiked in China as the world’s most populous country emerges from a coronavirus lockdown that forced couples to stay in their homes together for weeks to prevent the virus from spreading.
The COVID-19 outbreak began in China and was spreading rapidly, forcing the Chinese government to put whole cities on mandatory quarantine.
Divorce filings started to rise in the country as couples began to emerge from the lockdown.
In Miluo, a city in Hunan province, “staff members (didn’t) even have time to drink water” because so many people were lined up to file for divorce in March, according to reports.
More than 300 couples have scheduled appointments to get a divorce since Feb. 24, said Lu Shijun, the manager of a marriage registry in Dazhou, Sichuan Province in southwestern China.
Officials believe the sharp increase of divorce requests could be caused by the fact that partners have spent too much time in close quarters under quarantine.
“The divorce rate (in the district) has soared compared to before (the coronavirus outbreak),” Lu told the local press.
“Young people are spending a lot of time at home. They tend to get into heated arguments because of something petty and rush into getting a divorce.”
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The spike in divorces is also attributed to delayed requests thanks to the novel coronavirus, as offices were closed during the quarantine period, the Global Times reports.
