Footage has emerged online that appears to show people in China being bolted into their homes to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Clips circulating on Chinese social media show what appear to be public health workers wearing personal protective equipment using wires and iron bolts to lock people in their homes.
The extreme measure is being applied to people who are unwilling to give up their keys so they can be locked in from the outside, according to the independent publication Caixin Global.
The videos have triggered rare public outrage in China where many have taken to social media to highlight how dangerous it is for people to be trapped in their homes with no way of escaping in an emergency.
A user of Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, wrote: "I’m so angry. They really don’t treat people like humans."
Responding to criticism, officials in Qianan county blamed individual residential communities for their “simplistic and radical means” of limiting the spread of Covid.
The Qianan Pandemic Prevention and Control Office said on the Chinese app WeChat that it is "investigating and will modify the policy" and is exploring "the possibility of installing alarms to replace current methods".
Farmers in Qianan have also been banned from working in the fields, but footage has surfaced of people sneaking out in the cover of darkness so they can plough.
Millions of people have been living under strict lockdown restrictions in Shanghai for more than a month.
China remains one of the only countries in the world still pursuing a strict "zero Covid" policy.
It is trying to contain a spike in cases in Beijing after dozens of people tested positive for the virus in recent days, causing local authorities to initiate mass testing in most districts, close schools, ban gatherings and inside dining in all restaurants and lock down some neighbourhoods.
Dozens of subway stations and bus routes across the city have also been closed.
