DISTURBING footage captures the moment ordinary citizens in Shanghai appear to start screaming out of their windows, after being forbidden from leaving their houses for over a week.
The world’s third-biggest city has been under total Covid lockdown since April 5, with food supplies said to be running low as China‘s government struggles to cope.
Video originally shared on Chinese social media shows the Shanghai night skyline, with dozens of high-rise apartment blocks visible.
In the background, dozens of screaming voices, seemingly from a number of different locations, can be heard spontaneously.
What appears to be a searchlight is being shone out of one of the apartment buildings.
The clip is just the latest disturbing video to emerge from Shanghai, where 26 million people have been forbidden from leaving their houses for five days.
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On Saturday, starving shoppers were filmed looting a supermarket after only being granted paltry government food rations.
Other footage includes the sound of people screaming for food and medical supplies.
In horror scenes, a pet corgi was filmed getting beaten to death by a health worker after its owner reportedly tested positive for Covid.
Children have been forcibly removed from their parents and kept in cages, as China’s government justifies the move as a way to control Covid-19 cases.
Chinese authorities at first planned a phased lockdown in eastern and western parts of the city on March 28,
However, this measure was extended city-wide with no planned end on April 5 as cases rose to record highs in Shanghai.
On Friday, a record 21,000 positive cases were registered in the city, as authorities ramped up a severe mass testing program.
Some people have been completely barred from leaving their homes to get supplies for more than two weeks.
Insiders have accused the Chinese Communist Party of adopting an incredibly strict zero-Covid policy that will keep millions in near-permanent lockdown.
A journalist in Shanghai, who wanted to remain anonymous, told France 24: “There are much, much more cases than at the peak in Wuhan [in 2020]. This is extreme in terms of numbers, but actually, the cases are mainly Omicron.
“So the gravity of the situation isn’t that bad, but the government wasn’t sure how far it was going to go.
“They are still abiding by the zero-Covid policy. They are using a 2020 method for the 2022 virus.”
Food delivery apps are showing up as completely out of stock, pushing many to breaking point.
Chinese government censors have taken down videos and articles seen as critical of the lockdown, but this hasn’t stopped information leaking out.
Frustrated residents have taken to the Chinese social media network Weibo to complain about a lack of food and chaotic lockdown measures.
One wrote: “No matter where you live, whether you have money or not, you have to worry about what else you can eat and how you can buy things.”
Another asked in frustration: “Do you want to starve the people of Baoshan to death?” referring to the suburban district of Shanghai.
Medical volunteers brought into the city to help battle Covid have also reported food shortages.
In a video posted on Douyin, China’s TikTok-like platform, a young female volunteer cries: “Are the supplies just for Shanghai locals? As an outsider, I can be a volunteer, but why are the goods and supplies not assigned to us?”
On Sunday, Shanghai discharged more than 11,000 discharged Covid patients, with health authorities calling for them to be allowed home.
The government said another round of mass testing will be held, with some of the strictest measures lifted in those areas with no new cases in the past 14 days.
Zhao Lijian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, defended the approach in Shanghai.
“It should be pointed out that China’s anti-epidemic policies are science-based and effective, and we are fully confident that Shanghai and other places in China will prevail over the new wave of the epidemic,” they said.
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Separately, authorities in Guangzhou, southern China, announced that they would also begin mass testing their 18 million residents, according to state TV.
This is despite the fact that the city reported only two confirmed infections on Friday.
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