Comment by ch3nyang
Not only individuals, but also major companies were locked down. If this was a dry run for "certain measures" in the future, I can't believe how much of a blow it would cause to the economy. Therefore, I think this was more of a human error.
Determining the scope of the impact would also be part of such a dry run. And if it is meant to be used along some kind of military action then it's going to throw the economy into chaos anyway.