CHILLING footage shows Chinese officials bolting residents into their homes during a draconian Covid clampdown.
Videos posted on Chinese social media show residents who refuse to hand over their house keys also have wires drilled into their doors to stop them leaving.
The over-the-top measures were imposed in the northern Hebei province, according to the independent Chinese publication Caixin Global.
But the videos sparked outrage online, with social media users fearing the measures could be deadly, with residents stuck inside during an emergency.
One user wrote on Chinese social media site Weibo: “I’m so angry. They really don’t treat people like humans.”
Faced with the backlash, authorities in Qianan county blamed individual residential communities for their “simplistic and radical means” of keeping Covid in check.
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Taking to the Chinese app WeChat, Qianan Pandemic Prevention and Control Office said: “We are investigating and will modify the policy.
“We are also looking into the possibility of installing alarms to replace current methods.”
In the same county, authorities banned farmers from doing fieldwork in order to stop the spread of the bug.
Despite their best efforts, videos later emerged showing people sneaking out in the middle of the night to plough their fields.
Millions of others remain under various forms of lockdown across China, where the rapid spread of the Omicron variant is wreaking havoc on the country’s hardcore zero-Covid policy.
On Tuesday the regime ramped up restrictions even further by banning certain residents from leaving the city.
Neighbourhoods were labelled “medium” and “high risk” for transmission.
Residents were then told they would be held “legally responsible” if they dared leave Beijing.
The city has also shut down dozens of subway stations to tackle Covid.
COVID EPICENTRE
Shanghai – which has a population of 26.3 million – remains China’s Covid epicenter.
On Tuesday, 4,982 new transmitted infections were reported in the Covid-ridden megacity, out of a total of 5,428 new transmissions nationwide.
Meanwhile in the central city of Zhengzhou – which has a population of 10 million – the government announced citywide Covid testing and a partial lockdown after only several cases were reported.
Enslaved residents from the main areas of the city have now been subjected to a partial lockdown from May 4 until May 10, the regime said.
This prompted a rush to the shops as residents panic bought essentials to last the seven-day lockdown.
Videos circulating online showed jammed roads and crowded supermarkets.
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It followed fears a repeat of the Shanghai lockdown – where residents have complained of insufficient food supplies during the weeks-long lockdown – would happen.
One Weibo user wrote: “It is saddening that more and more horrible things are happening because of Covid prevention.”
