New Delhi, April 7: Some residents under lockdown in Shanghai say they are running out of food, amid the city's biggest-ever Covid outbreak, BBC reported. Residents are confined to their homes, banned from leaving for even essential reasons such as grocery shopping. Nearly 20,000 cases were reported on Thursday in China's biggest city, another near-record high.

Officials have admitted the city is facing "difficulties" but say they are trying to improve this. But public anger is also being stoked by other drastic measures -- such as the removal of children from their parents if they test positive. COVID-19 in China: Shanghai Tightens Coronavirus Control Measures Amid Resurgence.

Shanghai officials later responded by allowing parents who were also infected to accompany their children to isolation centres. The city began another round of mandatory mass testing on Wednesday to identify and isolate every case.

Shanghai residents who test positive can't isolate themselves in their homes even if their conditions are mild or asymptomatic, BBC reported. They have to go to mandatory quarantine facilities, which critics say have become crowded and have sub-par conditions.

When Omicron first emerged in Shanghai a month ago, the city quarantined only certain compounds. Then as the virus spread officials last week implemented a staggered lockdown where the city was split into two and each half had separate measures. On Monday the lockdown was extended indefinitely to cover the entire city of 25 million people.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 07, 2022 04:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).