Last Updated on March 16, 2020
Chinese officials have reported a jump in divorce rates following coronavirus quarantine in some Chinese cities.
It was reported by the Daily Mail that as “couples are spending too much time together at home,” marriages on the rocks were further weakened by forced isolation.
Since February 24, over 300 couples have filed for divorce in Dazhou, Sichuan Province, according to the local marriage registry manager.
Footage of long queues for divorce managed to grab Western attention.
On Chinese social media site, Weibo, the wait to file for divorce had become a hot topic, dominating much of the conversation in Xian, according to the Malaysian Star.
Some marriage registries have reported waits of up to three weeks, while others are limiting themselves to 10 clients a day.
The bureau’s chief for Tongchuan district reported that 122 marriage and 88 divorce applications had been received a few days after reopening.
According to the Malaysian Star, the Tongchuan bureau’s head, Dai Shijun, said: “We handled 15 divorce cases on Monday and 16 on Tuesday.
“Those who made appointments for divorce are more than those who want to get married.”
Officials believe that apart from couples spending too much uninterrupted time together and the lengthy closure of department buildings contributed to the spike in divorce rates.
China’s Global Times reported:
“As a result of the epidemic, many couples have been bound with each other at home for over a month, which evoked the underlying conflicts, adding that the office had been closed for a month, therefore the office has seen an acutely increasing divorce appointment,” said Wang, adding that “Usually the office would see a wave of divorcement after Spring Festival and the college entrance examination.”
Some couples who had filed for divorce later canceled their appointments out of regret, it was also reported.
