Coronavirus patients WELDED into homes in China as death toll spirals to 813
DEVASTATING footage appears to show coronavirus patients being welded inside their homes and “left to die” as China battles to contain the fatal disease.
In shocking clips posted on social media, masked men are seen blasting torches as they seal doors, seemingly imprisoning sick residents as the death toll today rose to 813.
Read our coronavirus live blog for all the latest news and updates
Originally posted by As Breaking on Twitter, the videos are alleged to show a horrific standard practice as coronavirus panic grips the Chinese government.
Activists have told how people suspected to be infected with the deadly disease are being left to “starve and die”.
It comes amid news that coronavirus has claimed more lives than the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003.
A total of 774 people died in the SARS pandemic – another form of coronavirus that jumped from animals to humans.
The new videos also show officials barricading doors with metal bars – and in one scene, a woman in a white lab coat appears to speak to somebody inside an apartment as a welder works on the door, sparks flying from his torch.
Some tweets read that the residents were “being locked in while they are left to die”.
Due to China’s super-strict censorship laws, it’s extremely difficult to trace exactly where the welding scenes were shot.
But the footage follows a previous video – thought to have been recorded in Nantong, in the JiangSu province – showing three people, allegedly infected with coronavirus being dragged from their home by hazmat-clad officials as they scream and yell.
‘LEFT TO DIE’
Another harrowing video also emerged yesterday that appears to show a woman recently returned from Wuhan being barricaded into her home by black-clad Chinese authorities.
The woman can be heard screaming and yelling while a group of masked men fit thick metal bars over her door.
A sign outside reads: “This family came back from Wuhan. Stay away, no contact”.
The deathly virus – originated in Wuhan – has spread across the globe striking down thousands and killing hundreds, with more confirmed cases by the minute.
BARRICADED
Activists say as well as Chinese authorities, mob rule has gripped some panic-stricken neighbourhoods and groups of civilians are barricading infected people’s homes.
There are also suggestions some members of the public are digging up roads leading to Wuhan and Hubei, two of the worst affected regions.
Meanwhile, communist regime in China has been pictured rounding up patients in Wuhan with the virus and taking them to camps.
As well as those suspected of having the virus, China’s central government ordered that those close to the patients should also be put into the camps.
What we are witnessing is essentially a breakdown in government
Gordon Chang
According to an expert in Chinese affairs and censorship, Gordon Chang, the Chinese authorities are deliberately falsifying the coronavirus numbers.
Mr Chang, an expert in Chinese affairs and censorship, said here has been a “breakdown in government” which means it has “just lost the ability to pick up corpses”.
He told Fox: “I think that the government in Wuhan and some other cities have just lost the ability to pick up corpses.
“What we are witnessing is essentially a breakdown in government and keeping accurate statistics is a very minor part of their priorities right now.”
Most read in news
The coronavirus situation is being described as China’s Chernobyl after it was initially covered up for months.
The latest official numbers breaching the 20,600 mark, with 2,790 cases believed to be critical. Case numbers are growing exponentially in China on a daily basis.
Current measures, such as proper screening of those escaping Wuhan, are not being carried out as efficiently as Beijing claims.