People in China are more scared of the lockdowns than the coronavirus itself. And there are strong reasons for that, as seen in numerous videos emerging from Shanghai and other places.
One such video gaining traction on Twitter shows a woman pinned down by a man for a Covid test.
Watch the video below:
As the video starts, the woman is seen lying down on the floor of what appears to be a testing centre with a man on top of her. She is screaming and trying to resist the forced test, but the man pulls her hands under his knees and firmly holds them there.
He then forcibly opens the woman's mouth and that's when a healthcare worker dressed in hazmat suit takes a swab sample. NDTV can't vouch for the authenticity of the video.
The video has shocked the internet. "What a horror how they subjugate the poor people,” a user tweeted. “All this is tragic, absolutely unbearable," said another.
Other users posted more such videos, showing Chinese healthcare workers forcibly entering the home of an old man last month for the mandatory Covid test.
The video was first posted on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, and then started circulating on other platforms as well.
The location where the video was taken is not known, but it comes at a time when residents of Shanghai are reeling under stringent lockdown for more than a month.
As a preventive measure, China's capital Beijing too has shut more than 40 subway stations, about a tenth of the network, and 158 bus routes. Most of the suspended stations and routes are in the Chaoyang district, the epicentre of Beijing's outbreak, a report in The Express Tribune said.
Twelve out of 16 Beijing districts are conducting the second of three rounds of tests this week, having done three mass screenings last week.
Meanwhile, in Shanghai, there's no end in sight for the lockdown.
After more than a month, most people in mainland China's biggest city and its financial centre are still not allowed to leave their housing compounds.
