A video shows community workers grabbing a man off a motorbike for not wearing a face mask and tying him to a tree, before one of them forcibly puts a bra over his face.

Another shows a grassroots law enforcer marching into a house where a family of three is playing mahjong, and throwing the tiles on the floor.

The son confronts the man, but is dragged out of his own house by other grassroots workers who slap him around. They proceed to pull the mahjong table out before smashing it.

Video clips that have been circulating widely on Chinese social media in recent days show the extent to which local authorities would go to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

And they have incensed netizens, who have lashed out at these low-level authorities and accused them of abusing their power.

The videos have drawn hundreds of millions of views online. And the public anger has prompted the government of Xiaochang county in Hubei province, where the mahjong incident happened, to admit that its staff had behaved inappropriately, and that the grassroots workers have been disciplined.

“Sometimes the policy from the top may seem well-meaning, but these people at the bottom go to extremes to implement them. They are given a bit of power now and they just let it get to their heads,” said office administrator Mao Xiaoying, 48, who said she was upset after seeing the videos online.

Women were not spared. Several videos showed a screaming woman being dragged across the floor of a mall and arrested for not wearing a face mask, while another showed a woman pinned to the ground by police officers.

Those who flout lockdown rules are taken to designated venues by police officers and forced to recite their own confessions and pledge obedience.

Such episodes come as health officials trumpet that infection numbers outside of Hubei province have been dropping steadily and the situation in the epicentre has been improving.

On Wednesday (Feb 19), the death toll from the coronavirus in China exceeded 2,000 while more than 1,700 new cases were identified.

Yet, various local governments have toughened their prevention and control tactics in recent days, rolling out increasingly draconian ways to curb the spread.

Hubei’s new party chief Ying Yong last Sunday (Feb 16) imposed a slew of drastic measures across the province, including lockdowns in communities and a ban on all motor vehicles on the roads except those essential to coronarvirus-fighting work.

Companies are also not allowed to resume business unless they have approval from the authorities, while community workers arrange for daily necessities to be delivered to residents confined to their homes.

On Monday (Feb 17), Wuhan launched a three-day dragnet, stepping up health checks on its residents and rounding up those who are infected.

The city’s new party boss, Wang Zhonglin, said on Tuesday (Feb 18) that each district had to ensure that there were no infected residents or even suspected cases at home.

“If one more confirmed coronavirus case was left in homes after the current comprehensive check over local communities in Wuhan, the government officials of the district will be punished,” said Mr Wang, who took over from sacked party chief Ma Guoqiang last week.

Local officials have been under pressure to curb the spread of the virus in their communities and cities. Hundreds in the province have already been punished for lack of enforcement or inadequate measures.

Mr Wan Zhibin, 53, who runs his own Chinese medicine shop in the city of Hanchuan, 70km from Wuhan, has been confined at home for nearly a month now.

“I think people in general just feel completely helpless, because there’s really nothing they can do about it,” he said.

Related Stories: 

Have a question on the coronavirus outbreak? E-mail us at [email protected]

To get alerts and updates, follow us on Telegram.

Source: Read Full Article