Taipei [Taiwan]: As China witnesses a surge in fresh Delta variant cases, several videos have surfaced on social media that show Chinese officials locking residents inside their homes by putting iron bars on their doors. A report in Taiwan News said the move to lock people in their houses was a repeat of the extreme tactics seen in Wuhan at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

Multiple videos have surfaced on Weibo, Twitter, and YouTube showing personnel in PPE suits placing iron bars over the doors of people’s homes and hammering them in place to prevent anyone from leaving.

In a video shared on Twitter, a man appears to be caught in the act of allegedly breaching his quarantine to “get some air” before returning to his apartment.

In a video uploaded to YouTube, the editor claims that if someone is found to have opened their door more than three times in one day, they will be locked inside by the authorities. People dressed in full PPE can be seen hammering large metal bars over a doorway in an X pattern, reported Taiwan News.

Towards the end of another video, originally posted on Weibo and later uploaded to Twitter and YouTube, shows several doors being sealed and a recording being broadcast to residents, declaring: “People must not go out. As soon as they are caught, their doors will be sealed.”

Twitter users claim one controversial video shows a young girl dancing in front of workers in hazmat suits moments before she is locked in. However, officials claimed the girl was thanking them for their hard work as they prepared to administer a third PCR test on her.

A video uploaded by the Twitter account “Things China Doesn’t Want You To Know” alleged that if anyone in the apartment tests positive or is found to be a contact of a confirmed case, the entire building will be sealed for two to three weeks and potentially longer, said Everington.

In a scene reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic in Wuhan, footage posted on Twitter on August 8 shows people in apartment complexes in Jiangsu’s Yangzhou City screaming “Yangzhou jiayou!” (Go Yangzhou!) at the top of their lungs.

China’s National Health Commission on August 9 announced 143 new confirmed COVID cases in at least 17 provinces, the highest spike since January 20, reported Taiwan News.

Of these, 35 were foreign cases and 108 were local cases, including 50 in Jiangsu Province, 37 in Henan Province, 15 in Hubei Province, and six in Hunan Province. In addition, the Jiangsu Commission of Health reported two cases in Nanjing City and 48 in Yangzhou City.

(With inputs from ANI)