Chinese citizens have been trapped in their own homes as police built fences outside houses in the world's strictest lockdown.
People living in Shanghai, China, woke up to green fences that had been installed by authorities overnight to restrict people's movement as the city faces its worst coronavirus surge since the pandemic began.
Those with fences outside their homes - in a sealed area - cannot leave their properties whether or not they have the virus.
Shanghai's 25 million people have been locked in for weeks due to the surge in Covid cases, with 21,000 new cases reported on Sunday (April 24). 39 people in the city died of the virus that day.
Pictures of officers in white hazmat suits patrolling the city and closing off certain areas with green fencing have been spreading around social media.
The extremely strict lockdown has already pushed Shanghai's citizens to their limits, as babies and young children have been separated from their parents under current rules.
And people are shocked by the latest initiative, which has seen two-metre-high, green fences put up to create 'sealed' areas around buildings where at least one person has tested positive for Covid.
It surprised residents, who had no idea about the new rule until they woke up to find the fences.
A foreign national spoke to the BBC to say a green fence popped up around his residential complex just a few days ago.
He has claimed that the main gate into the complex was 'chained up' three weeks ago after he believes one of his neighbours caught the virus.
"There is a long corridor in our compound, and within the long corridor they put up another green fence three days ago. No one told us the reason it was installed," the man told the BBC, wanting to stay anonymous.
"No one can get out. I feel helpless. You don't know when the lockdown is going to end.
"If your area gets fenced off, what if a fire breaks out? I don't think anyone in their right mind can seal people's homes."
Taking to Twitter, director of documentaries in China, Chris Pc, explained what local residents had been saying.
He wrote: “We all have heard stories of residents and even entire buildings refusing to go outside for mass testing. Some are fatigued, others fear that being together brings infection risks.
“Some think sealed-off entrances like this are to separate these folks. The hope being that other residents of a community would not be punished for the lack of co-operation from a few. This might be wishful thinking.
“It’s usually extremely crowded on sunny weekend afternoons. To see these fences up with little official explanation is confusing a lot of people."
Shanghai's super strict rules are part of China's zero-Covid policy, which aims to eradicate the virus from the country.
Levels of Covid infections across the country stayed quite low at the beginning of the pandemic, but cases have increased as variants have become more transmissible.
