Divorce rates up in China, claims official; blames it on Covid-19 quarantine

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The world is dealing with the ways to tackle the rapidly spreading coronavirus disease Covid-19. But epicentre China, which has minimised the outbreak, seems to be dealing with a different problem.

Several news reports have emerged which quote Chinese marriage registry officials as saying that divorce rate has risen in the country because couples are spending too much time together during coronavirus self-isolation.

“The divorce rate has soared compared to before,” several publications have quoted Lu Shijun, the manager of a marriage registry in Dazhou in Sichuan Province of south-western China as saying.

“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,” Lu further said.

He added that over 300 couples have scheduled appointments to get a divorce since February 24.

Wuhan, the city at the centre of China’s coronavirus outbreak, recorded just one new case on Tuesday as officials said they believed the country was over the worst of the crisis. Another 20 cases were recorded around the country, including nine in Beijing. All were reported among people who arrived from overseas.

Beijing has told all those arriving in the city to mandatorily undergo 14 days of quarantine but has not closed its borders. Other Chinese cities have adopted similar measures, even as authorities work to restart industries that are key to global supply chains.

The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 182,000 people and killed more than 7,100 across the world.