Chinese Authorities Locking up People Inside Houses? Viral Videos Claim Govt's Crackdown as Delta Surges

Amid Covid-19 surge in China due to Delta variant, numerous videos have surfaced on social media showing Chinese officials locking residents inside their homes. Keoni Everington, writing in Taiwan News said that the move is not new, as it was seen during the start of pandemic in Wuhan.

A report in ANI said that multiple videos has gone viral on social media platforms including Weibo, Twitter and Youtube showing government personnel placing iron bars over the doors of people’s homes and hammering them to prevent them from leaving.

Another report in Taiwan News claimed that if someone is found to have opened their door more than three times in one day, they will be locked inside by the authorities. It added that at a house, shown in a twitter post, people dressed in full PPE kits can be seen hammering large metal bars over a doorway in an X pattern.

In another video on Weibo, several doors can be seen sealed and a recording being broadcast to the residents declaring, “People must not go out. As soon as they are caught, their doors will be sealed.”

Twitter users claim that in a controversial video showing a dancing girl in front of workers in hazmar suits. She was later locked in. According to reports, if anyone is the apartment tests positive for Coronavirus or is found to be in contact with a confirmed case, the entire building will be sealed off for two to three weeks.

China on Tuesday reported over 180 coronavirus cases, including 108 locally-transmitted infections, the highest single-day rise since the current outbreak began last month amidst a growing concern over the spread of the more virulent Delta variant. The National Health Commission (NMC) said in its daily report that the country reported 108 locally-transmitted cases, 35 imported and 38 asymptomatic infections on Monday.

The new wave of infections spread after a cluster of cases reported in Nanjing airport and later at Zhangjiajie, a tourist destination in China’s south Hunan province last month. Significantly, Hubei province is currently treating 68 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 55 locally-transmitted ones, mainly in the provincial capital Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged in December, 2019.

Wuhan city has already carried out mass testing of its 12 million population. There were also 80 asymptomatic cases under medical observation in the province, with 63 of them being locally-transmitted cases, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted local health officials as saying.

There is a growing concern among authorities over the spread of the Delta variant in about 13 of the country’s 23 provinces. Since Sunday, Beijing has stepped up measures to prevent the spread of the contagion by virtually banning people from travelling to the Chinese capital from provinces having COVID-19 cases.

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