Per a new report, a Chinese shopper who apparently refused to wear a face mask amid the current coronavirus epidemic that has already affected thousands of people was promptly arrested.

Identified only by her surname Qiu, the woman was reportedly pinned to the ground by officers after going to a supermarket in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen without wearing any protective gear.

The supermarket is also located in the Guandong province, which recently received a temporary order from officers back in January 26 that required all its 113 million residents to wear face masks at all times to reduce the cases of people catching the deadly virus.

Per reports, Qiu had already been confronted by other shoppers before the arrest, all of which asked her to put on a mask in order to be safe. However, it was reported that she refused, which resulted in an argument between her and other customers, with Qiu even spitting at them. She was then arrested, with security footage showing that the officers were even struggling to detain her and tie her hands behind her back in a store aisle. Afterwards, she was brought to the police station for questioning, although it’s unclear whether she will be facing charges for the supermarket incident and, if so, what charges will be given to her.

This recent confrontation comes amid the news that in China alone, around 14,000 people have already been affected by the deadly virus, with numbers only predicted to go up if a definitive cure or solution isn’t made soon.

The onset of the epidemic reportedly started last December 2019, when a man started suffering from pneumonia-like symptoms after going to a market in the Chinese province of Wuhan. From there, the virus quickly spread via human-to-human transmission like coughing, which quickly resulted in a sudden increase of cases.

After the virus has started affecting people in other countries, WHO reportedly declared that the current epidemic is a global public health emergency that should be given special importance. While not legally binding, the declaration allows WHO to have leverage in ordering how countries should be facing the current viral outbreak in order to prevent its further spread.

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