Alarming footage is making its way online as residents of China's largest city start to crack under the pressure of the harshest lockdown rules the world has ever seen.
Desperate residents of Shanghai have been spotted screaming from their windows as riots break out, with reports of people running out of food and water.
In one video posted to Chinese social media platform Weibo, crowds of people were spotted looting food parcels as supplies run out.
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Another video captured the desperate screams of people who are suffering from being locked-up indefinitely, while another viral video caught a man hurling abuse over the phone, seemingly to a government worker.
“My parents are locked up by you for two months," he can be heard yelling in the clip.
"How did they live for these two months? My grandmother lives alone, nobody takes care of her. You locked us up. What does she drink? What does she eat?
"You are driving [people] to death."
Some have expressed concern over the impact the draconian rules will have on the elderly and those who aren't tech-savvy, as they are less likely to use the internet or apps to order food, water, groceries and medicine.
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When Omicron originally arrived in Shanghai, only certain buildings and areas were thrown into lockdown, but the lockdown is now citywide. That has resulted in 26 million people being banned from leaving their homes.
Residents can't even go out for essential items and food and delivery services are now struggling to keep up with the skyrocketing demand.
One person took to Weibo to express their frustration with the government.
"Please solve the problem of insufficient delivery capacity as soon as possible," they said.
A second added that it was the 'first time in my life that I have gone hungry'.
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City officials have now acknowledged the food struggles, revealing Shanghai had enough supplies of rice, noodles, grain, oil and meat for all but there were delays in distributing them to the city.
“It is true there are some difficulties in ensuring the supply of daily necessities,” local city official Liu Min said, as reported by the BBC.
The chaos comes as more than 23,600 new infections were recorded on Friday (April 8), despite residents suffering through the harshest Covid-19 restrictions anywhere in the world.
China is one of the final nations committed to eradicating coronavirus, while the rest of the world has dumped lockdowns with the intention of living with the virus.
Featured Image Credit: Reddit. Robert W / Alamy Stock Photo.Topics: Coronavirus, News, Health
