Shanghai authorities battling an outbreak of COVID-19 have erected tall fences outside some residential buildings, sparking fresh public outcry over a lockdown that has forced much of the city's 25 million population to stay at home.Images of white hazmat-suit-clad workers sealing entrances of housing blocks and closing off entire streets with roughly two meter-tall green fencing went viral on social media on Saturday, prompting questions and complaints from residents, Australia's AAP news agency reported.Isn''t this a fire hazard?,& asked one user on social media platform Weibo.This is so disrespectful of the rights of the people inside, using metal barriers to enclose them like domestic animals,& said another.The Shanghai government did not respond to a request for comment.Most of the barriers appeared to have been erected around compounds designated as &sealed areas&, which are buildings where at least one person has tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in residents being forbidden from leaving their homes.Shanghai, China's largest city and most important economic hub, is battling the country's biggest-ever reported COVID-19 outbreak with a policy that forces all positive cases into central quarantine facilities.The lockdown, which for many residents has lasted more than three weeks, has fuelled frustration over difficulties accessing food and medical care as well as lost wages, family separation, conditions at quarantine centers, and censorship of efforts to vent online.On Shanghai recorded 19,657 new asymptomatic cases, versus 20,634 a day earlier, and 1,401 symptomatic cases, down from 2,736.Meanwhile, Beijing recorded 22 new cases & all locally transmitted & compared to six the day before.
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