Is China locking up residents inside their homes in view of surging Covid-19 cases? These videos suggest so

A number of videos have surfaced on social media that appear to show China is locking up its residents inside their homes in view of the surging cases of Covid-19, especially its Delta variant.   

The videos posted on different social media platforms such as Weibo, Twitter, and YouTube show employees in hazmat suits putting iron bars over the doors of people's homes and hammering them in place to prevent anybody from leaving.

Chinese authorities are barricading citizens inside their houses as the country deals with a national outbreak of the Delta form of COVID-19.

In a YouTube video, a guy alleges that if they open their door more than three times in one day, they would be confined inside by the police. According to Taiwan News, people wearing full PPE can be seen pounding big metal bars in an X pattern over a doorway.

Another video, initially released on Weibo and then shared via Twitter and YouTube, shows many doors being locked and a message being blasted to inhabitants, proclaiming: "People must not leave their homes. Their doors will be locked as soon as they are apprehended."

Also Read | Afghanistan replaces Army chief after Taliban surge

According to Keoni Everington of Taiwan News, the action was a reenactment of the extreme measures witnessed in Wuhan at the onset of the epidemic.

According to a video posted on Twitter by the account "Things China Doesn't Want You To Know," if anyone in the apartment tests positive or is proven to be a contact of a confirmed case, the entire building will be shut for two to three weeks, and maybe longer, according to Everington.

Footage shared on Twitter on August 8 shows individuals in apartment complexes in Jiangsu's Yangzhou City yelling "Yangzhou jiayou!" (Go Yangzhou!) at the top of their voices, reminiscent to the early days of the epidemic in Wuhan.

Also Read | Taliban allow safe passage to Ghazni Guv after province falls