in northern China, officials lock residents in their homes

Filmed by a resident, the scene takes place in Qian’an, in the province of Hebei, near Beijing. In a residence just confined after the appearance of several cases of Covid, the officials of the neighborhood committee prevent the inhabitants from going out, with a radical method. The agents, armed with a drill, seal iron rods on each apartment door: a new exterior lock is thus installed, coupled with an alarm system.

Apparently the situation is getting worse all over China, example:
In Qian’an, Hebei, residents were forced to hand over their house keys, and epidemic prevention personnel locked them from the outside.#ChinaLockdownThread #Lockdownhttps://t.co/O5FjQNQOB1

— China Lockdown 2022 (@2022_Lockdown) April 28, 2022

One of the officials addresses the residents: “Every apartment now has this alarm, you can’t open the door. If you try to open, the alarm will sound.”

Chinese Internet users react strongly: “We are not animals that can be locked up in cages”, “how to get out in case of fire?”some even mention a violation of human rights.

In China, local authorities are full of ideas to prevent citizens from leaving their homes in confined cities, and this is not the first time that the strong method has been used to enforce health measures. For fear of being punished, the neighborhood committees are often zealous.

But this time, the practice, considered abusive, caused the health authorities to react. The official New China agency announces that the measures taken locally will be corrected.