China: Viral videos show Shanghai people in deep distress amid extreme food shortage as lockdown continues

Many are bordering on starvation due to a lack of basic necessities of life, many social media videos showed.

The viral videos, purportedly showing the people of Shanghai complaining of lack of food and medical care, are doing rounds on social media.

As Shanghai residents yelled out their frustrations from their balconies and windows, the government’s response to the outcry was “control your soul’s desire for freedom”, an India Today report said though it mentioned that India Today could not independently verify these videos.

With drones flying around playing the message: “Control the soul’s desire for freedom and do not open the window to sing. This behaviour has the risk of spreading the epidemic”, the report said that the environment in the city is like something out of a dystopian science fiction movie.

Despite the stringent lockdown, people could not be stopped from venting their frustration and anger, and in many places the tense situation spiralled out of control and riots broke out, said the report.

Several videos have emerged where a large group of people can be seen raising slogans and cornering officials wearing hazmat suits, before looting a supermarket.

Shanghai has been locked down since April 1 while the eastern third of the city has been locked down even longer -- since March 28, stated the report.

The national government has sent 2,000 military medics and 10,000 medical workers from other provinces to help in the fight against the Covid wave, fuelled by the Omicron variant.

Shanghai reported 25,000 Covid-19 infections on Sunday, another new high in the worst Covid outbreak in China in two years.

The authorities have adopted the strict "dynamic zero" Covid strategy to curb the spread.

Anyone tested positive is taken away from their home and quarantined while others have been barred from leaving their homes or apartment buildings.

Initial plans called for a closure of four days where infected people were found but it was changed to an indefinite lockdown. Many people had a tough time ordering home deliveries of food supplies, said the report.

Children, even toddlers and infants, have been taken away from their parents and isolated, said the report.

However, the Shanghai authorities have now created facilities for family quarantine for children with special needs.

It also added that the authorities have publicly apologised and promised to improve food supplies.