'Truly awful': Remarkable insight into Shanghai's daunting Covid battle

As Covid-19 cases mount in locked down Shanghai, remarkable imagery is emerging of the extreme lengths the city is going to in a bid to subdue its daunting Omicron wave.

China is struggling to hold onto its Covid-zero strategy as it battles its biggest outbreak since the virus first emerged over two years ago, with the virus spreading far and wide across the vast nation.

Shanghai is the latest mega city to be locked down by Beijing, with the city of 26 million split in two for separate four-day stints in lockdown.

However there are growing fears due to the rate of transmission, restrictions will be imposed for much longer. The city recorded nearly 6,000 cases on Wednesday.

Striking photos from Reuters prior to the lockdown showed temporary yellow barricades roughly two metres high creating an unbreakable ring around locked down neighbourhoods.

But further imagery and video being shared to social media show the true extent of its outbreak and how cracks are beginning to appear in what was once a watertight Covid defence.

Video circulating on Weibo shows an extensive convention centre filled with beds which are all reportedly taken by Covid patients. Chinese Covid rules requires positive Covid cases to be taken to a quarantine facility.

The striking video shows multiple people lying in bed with covers over them in the makeshift ward.

Authorities have vowed to turn more public venues into makeshift hospitals, with state media sharing images of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre ready for patients.

“Covid-19 infections are growing day by day at a rapid pace, ratcheting up pressure on the city’s public health system," Wu Qianyu, a senior official with Shanghai Health Commission, said, according to the South China Morning Post.

Expat endures 'awful' conditions

British expat Shane Leaning caught the virus last week and was transported to a Covid hospital. His wife Emma was also taken into quarantine as a close contact and both detailed their journeys on Twitter.

Mr Leaning described his first night as "truly awful" with no running water or heating and a blocked toilet.

He later shared a photo of another hospital where patients were told they'd be joined in a corridor by other patients who'd have to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor.

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Ms Leaning shared insightful video revealing the enormity of the centres converted into quarantine facilities. She also shared video of the bathroom which consisted of rows of portaloos. She described the vibe as like "a really s*** festival".

Robotic dogs and Covid testing fish

Last month China was accused of going over the top with its meticulous approach by Covid testing all incoming international mail. However authorities appear to have taken their tactics one step further by testing live fish.

A viral video circulating on Chinese social media shows a pandemic worker wearing a hazmat suit swabbing the mouth of a fish at a seafood market.

The video proved divisive in the comments, with patience over Beijing's draconian measures wearing thin.

Other videos of protesting residents pleading to leave their neighbourhoods has only intensified the discontent.

And in another bizarre clip circulating the web, a robotic dog can be seen with a megaphone attached to its back parading apartment blocks, delivering Covid information.

The video has prompted a wave of disbelief online.

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