For weeks, Shanghai's 25 million-strong population has been shut in their homes while officials try to contain the city's worst COVID surge to date. Authorities battling Shanghai's latest outbreak initially began installing fences to restrict the population's movement. In the early days of the lock down, there were reports that hundreds were forcibly evacuated from their homes to allow for buildings to be disinfected. In the worst hit areas, even residents who tested negative were forced to move out temporarily.
But in the weeks following, green barriers began appearing without warning outside buildings where those inside were forbidden from leaving. Images of workers in white hazmat suits sealing entrances to the city's housing blocks and closing off streets with green fencing have spread on Chinese social media. Many of the fences, which are around two-meters tall, were installed around buildings designated as "sealed areas" where at least one person has tested positive for Covid-19. Everyone living inside a "sealed area" was forbidden from setting foot outside their homes whether or not they have the virus. Many have been struggling to access food supplies, and forced to wait for government drop-offs of vegetables, meat and eggs.
One resident, who asked not to be identified, said that the main gate to his compound was chained up three weeks ago after he believes one of his neighbors tested positive for the virus. "No one can get out," he said. "I feel helpless. You don't know when the lock down is going to end. If your area gets fenced off, what if a fire breaks out? I don't think anyone in their right mind can seal people's homes," he said.
While some city officials have been installing fences, others have been busy trying to block a popular video highlighting the impact of the city's lock down on its residents. The six-minute montage features unverified audio clips of the local population criticizing inadequate food supplies and complaining about medical conditions. "We haven't eaten for days now," one person can be heard pleading in the video.
In other viral videos, residents can be heard screaming from their apartments, while a drone can be seen issuing warnings about COVID-19 restrictions as the country sticks to its strict zero-COVID policy amid an increase of infections. A video circulating on Twitter shows high-rise buildings in Shanghai at night, with people heard yelling from their windows. A separate video shows a drone flying over the city, issuing a warning for city residents to follow COVID restrictions. "Shanghai residents go to their balconies to sing & protest lack of supplies. A drone appears: 'Please comply w covid restrictions. Control your soul's desire for freedom. Do not open the window or sing,' Alice Su, a journalist for The Economist, wrote on Twitter.
Newer measures include placing electronic door alarms on the outside of apartment doors to prevent those infected from leaving, in addition to evacuating people to disinfect their homes. CNN's David Culver (who has filed a report while living in Shanghai) says he’s prepared a box of essentials for his dog, Chairman. If Culver is whisked away to isolate somewhere, he hopes that someone will come by and care for his pet — but there’s no guarantee. The dog may end up starving in the apartment. Or worse. Culver is reporting that government personnel are scattered across Shanghai and keeping an eye on residents’ comings-and-goings. Authorities have now transitioned to sealing doors closed with paper-- and if residents leave when they're not supposed to, officials will know at a glance by the broken seal.
As Shanghai's COVID-19 lock down misery dragged into its fifth week, there are fears that the Chinese capital could be destined for a similar fate. In Beijing, all 3.45 million people living or working in Chaoyang district were ordered to be tested three times a week, as authorities warned that the virus had crept into the city largely undetected during the previous week, with a few dozen cases reported. Fearing they were about to taste the misery suffered in Shanghai, many people in the capital began stockpiling food, toilet paper and other basic goods.
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