"In the neighborhoods, people are quarantined in their residences and office buildings," said Li, a resident of Shanghai.
Around him, the streets empty out as several areas of China's most populous city are put under bell jars, sealed off with iron barriers and plastic ribbons.
These health measures were taken by the authorities as Shanghai struggles with the worst wave of cases in two years.
A total of 3,400 cases were identified in the country on Sunday March 13.
A record since the appearance of the virus in 2019.
“I think the Shanghai government is doing this to protect citizens.
In the long term, it's a good thing,” said a passer-by.
“Our school has suspended classes and only offers online classes.
But we couldn't go back home (to another city, editor's note), ”explains another.
It is now mandatory to provide a negative Covid-19 test dating back less than 48 hours to enter and leave the city.
Read also“Zero Covid only works if the country is in a vacuum”: why China is caught up in the epidemic
Other cities, around ten, have also had to take isolation measures across the country.
This is the case of Shenzhen where 17 million inhabitants were confined after the appearance of 66 new cases of Covid-19.
Its neighbour, Hong Kong, has one of the highest death rates in the world from the virus.
Local confinements, mass screening, use of tracing applications, borders almost closed… China applies a zero tolerance policy against the virus in an attempt to stem the epidemic.
Radical measures undermined by the explosion of daily cases while the weariness of the population is increasingly heard.
“Closures are too sudden, my friend woke up in the morning to find her building had been sealed off overnight without warning.
His boss had to send him his laptop by post,” says a resident of Shenzhen.
Economists also warn that the sweeping measures are hurting the country's economy.