Residents of Shanghai have been living in a nightmare. In an effort to avert another global pandemic, and with COVID infections already on the rise, the Chinese government has implemented strict lockdown policies that have kept citizens isolated in their homes for weeks1.

No one within the massive city of 25 million has been allowed to leave their houses to get food under Xi Jinping's "zero Covid" policy.

Government and private delivery drivers have been stretched thin by the massive demand, leaving many without basic necessities, a more distressing threat than COVID2.

Several videos circulating online show the sights and sounds of hundreds of thousands of locked down Shanghai residents screaming from their apartments3.

Authorities have since grouped residential units into three risk categories, with the lowest allowed limited freedoms after a two-week period of no positive cases, but those in in high- and medium-risk categories are still confined to their homes4.

Those in "prevention areas" are allowed to move around their neighborhoods but must observe social distancing and could be sealed off again if new infections are reported.

In areas where restrictions have not been lifted, residents have found it increasingly harder to get food and daily necessities, while shortages of medical workers, volunteers and beds in the exhibition hall and other facilities converted to ad hoc isolation centers are putting more pressure on the local medical system5.

Egregious tragedies have surfaced online during this ordeal, showing some of the worst cases of what people in Shanghai are being put through. Outrage was sparked over the death of a nurse who was barred from entering her own hospital under COVID-19 restrictions6. Other footage shows multiple infants kept apart from their parents, being prepared to be separated from their families and moved to other facilities7.

Another video recorded by a Shanghai resident shows a Covid prevention worker dressed in protective gear chasing down a corgi before hitting it three times with a shovel8.

The dog was reportedly running after a bus said to be taking its owner to an isolation facility. Its lifeless body was later carried away in a plastic bag.

The residents of Shanghai are being imprisoned in their own homes and systematically starved to death, while their animals are being killed. The U.S. Consulate in Shanghai has reported "extremely limited ability" to intervene in such cases. Sign the petition and help us call on the United Nations to ensure this never happens again!

More on this issue:

1. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar, The Independent (13 April 2022), "Locked down Shanghai residents not allowed to leave their homes even to get food seen screaming from their balconies."
2. David Culver, CNN (12 April 2022), "Pressure builds as Shanghai, a city of 25 million, remains locked inside."
3. The Guardian (11 April 2022), "'This cannot last': residents in locked down Shanghai scream from their balconies — video."
4. David Stanway, Reuters (11 April 2022), "Shanghai eases lockdown in some areas despite record COVID infections."
5. Bloomberg News (11 April 2022), "Shanghai Residents Remain Largely Locked Down Despite Easing."
6. Phoebe Zhang, South China Morning Post, (25 March 2022), "Shanghai nurse dies of asthma after emergency department closed for Covid-19 disinfection"
7. Rebecca Kanthor, TIME (12 April 2022), "'My Daughter Was Alone in the Hospital for 5 Days.' Chinese Parents Protest Child Separation for COVID-19."
8. Jessie Yeung, CNN (8 April 2022), "A Covid worker beat a dog to death in Shanghai after its owner tested positive."