Couples Should Sleep Separately, Don’t Kiss & Hug: Residents Asked As Shanghai Battles Covid

This comes even as the daily infection tally has fallen in China in the last few days. However, it is still significantly high as compared to other nations.

People wearing PPE as they transfer daily food supplies and necessities for local residents (File photo: AFP)

New Delhi: The locals in Shanghai, which is the hotspot of the current Covid-19 outbreak in China, are living a very harrowing life under extreme lockdown due to the virus.

The glimpses from Shanghai keep emerging on social media. The locals in the city can be seen handling day-to-day tasks like walking their dogs.

This comes even as the daily infection tally has fallen in China in the last few days. However, it is still significantly high as compared to other nations.

In tune with the same, all the 26 million residents in the city have been asked to stay at home.

The videos posted by the residents of the city on Twitter show announcements being made by drones.

The drones appeared in the sky after the residents were found singing and protesting lack of supplies in their balconies.

The video, which was first shared on Weibo, soon made its way to Twitter after some local journalists picked it up.

The drones, as per the translation provided by the locals, asked people to comply with Covid-19 restrictions and “control your desire for freedom”.

The locals in the city have also been asked not to open their windows or sing.

The healthcare workers can be seen using megaphones in another related video to make public announcements on the streets of Shanghai.

“From tonight, couples should sleep separately, don't kiss, hug is not allowed, and eat separately. Thank you for your corporation,” the workers can be heard telling the residents of a housing society in the video.

The videos surfaced earlier a week ago on the social media which showed four-legged robots patrolling the streets of Shanghai and making health announcements.

There is growing disgruntlement among the residents over distribution of food and essential goods in view of the Covid-19 restrictions.

The city administration has though acknowledged the problem and guaranteed to improve the state of affairs.

Earlier on Thursday, Shanghai’s vice mayor Chen Tong said the city “has sufficient reserves of staples such as rice and meat, but issues have cropped up in distribution and last-mile deliveries because of epidemic control measures”.

Speaking at a news conference, the vice mayor said the city would try to reopen some wholesale markets and food stores and allow more delivery personnel out of locked-down areas.

He added the officials will also crack down on price gouging.

With the harsh movement restrictions imposed in the city to stem the spread of coronavirus, China’s financial hub has fallen largely silent as only healthcare workers, volunteers, delivery personnel or people with special permission are permitted on the streets.