Shanghai authorities battling an outbreak of COVID-19 have erected fences outside residential buildings, sparking a fresh public outcry over a lockdown that has forced much of the city’s 25 million people indoors. 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, prompting questions and complaints from residents. “This is so disrespectful of the rights of the people inside, using metal barriers to enclose them like domestic animals,” said one user on the social media platform Weibo. One video showed residents shouting from balconies at workers trying to set up fencing before relenting and taking it away. Other videos showed people trying to pull fences down. “Isn’t this a fire hazard?” asked another Weibo user. Many of the fences were erected around compounds designated “sealed areas” – buildings where […]