Wuhan residents have been panic buying essential items at supermarkets with the Chinese city plunged into lockdown.
Store shelves are being emptied as people stock up in the city that was the epicentre of the first Covid outbreak last year.
A strict initial lockdown worked in eliminating infections but now with the Delta variant surging, the city has been forced to take strict measures again.
Officials are trying to maintain order and “calm the panicked mood of city residents”. They have promised to keep prices stable and ensure shops are well stocked.
Cities across China have gone into lockdown to stop the spread of the virus and Wuhan, with a population of 11 million, has now joined them after recording eight cases on Tuesday.
It imposed a 76-day lockdown last year and then reported no more cases of the virus since mid-May and its success at tackling Covid was repeated around the country.
But its trend to open back up and see its economy grow has been hit by the new outbreak of the Delta variant that has hit over 20 cities.
It is thought to have been sparked in the city of Nanjing where airport cleaners were infected after they boarded a plane from Russia.
Millions of people in China are now confined to their homes due to the strictly enforced lockdown where some residential compounds have been cordoned off.
Local governments in major cities including Beijing have also now tested millions of residents.
The National Health Commission has said that 90 new cases have been confirmed from the previous 24 hours.
Mainland China has so far recorded 93,193 confirmed cases in total, with the cumulative death toll at 4,636.
