Whole localities are sent into quarantine in China using force if someone is symptomatic of covid. The quarantines are metal boxes set up in far away camps. The authoritarian regime is resorting to draconian methods to check a new wave of the epidemic in the country that has already locked down three cities currently. On the other hand, the US presents a contrasting scenario where in the name freedom large sections of people refuse vaccination and assault health workers who mandate the covid restrictions.

BEIJING, Jan 13: China, following a zero-covid policy since the very outbreak of the pandemic in Wuhan in December 2019, is quarantining people with suspected symptoms in metal boxes lined up in camps each furnished with a wooden bed and toilet. Children, the elderly and pregnant women, without exception, are being forced to stay in these small boxes for 14 to 21 days.

Very harsh rules are imposed on those found infected. All the residents of any locality where even a single person is reported symptomatic, are also transported to far away camps in buses by force as the country is facing a recrudescence of the pandemic in many provinces.

The horrible sights of those quarantine camps are appearing in social media videos.

About 20 million people have been detained in quarantine centres across the country, according to reports, especially as a precaution in view of the forthcoming Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics next month.

After Xian and Tianjin, Anyang became the third city to be placed under lockdown on Wednesday, confining almost 20 million people to their homes in order to prevent the spread of the disease, AFP reported.