By Brenda Goh

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Shanghai authorities are fighting an epidemic of COVID-19. They have erected mesh barriers in some residential areas. This has sparked a new public outcry.

On Saturday, images of white-turbaned workers in hazmat suits sealing the entrances to housing blocks were viralized on social media. Residents raised questions about their actions and complained.

One user of social media platform Weibo said, “Isn’t this a danger?

One person said that “this is so disrespectful to the rights people inside, using steel barriers to enclose the them like domestic animals,” another added.

One request for comments from the Shanghai government was ignored by them.

Many of the barriers appear to have been placed in areas designated “sealed area” which were buildings where at most one person tested positive for COVID-19. It is these types of buildings that residents cannot leave their front doors.

Reuters could not verify all photos and videos as authentic.

Shanghai, China’s capital and largest economic city, has taken on the biggest COVID-19-related outbreak in history. They have implemented a system that requires all cases to be admitted into central quarantine.

For many, the lockdown lasted for more than three months. Residents were frustrated at not being able to access food or medical care, lost wages, separation from their families, quarantine centre conditions, and online censorship.

The second-largest global economy has suffered as well. Factory attempts to resume production have been hampered by slow supply chains, and the difficulties experienced by residents locked up returning to work.

For April 23, the city recorded 39 additional deaths due to COVID-19, compared with 12 for the day before and the highest number during this outbreak.

It didn’t report any COVID-19-related deaths during its first week of the new case surge. Residents were skeptical about these figures. Since then, it has reported 87 deaths from COVID-19 in just seven days.

Although the number of new cases fell slightly on Saturday, they remained high in the thousands. Shanghai had 19,657 cases of local asymptomatics, as compared to 20,634 the day before. Also, there were 1,401 symptoms cases, which is a decrease from 2,736.

China managed to contain COVID-19 in large part after an outbreak occurred in Wuhan, China in the latter half of 2019. The country also implemented a “dynamic zero policy” that aimed to eliminate all infection chains.

This strategy has become increasingly difficult due to the Omicron variant of Omicron which is more deadly but highly infectious. Numerous cities have implemented movement restrictions, which are further limiting the economic potential.

China had 20,285 coronavirus cases in April 23rd, compared to 21,423 the day before. There were 1,580 cases of coronavirus symptoms, which is down from 2,988.

Beijing saw 22 COVID-19 new cases, all localized. This compares to the six that were reported on Monday.