Residents told The Epoch Times that they could not access essential supplies, and that local authorities did not assist them.
China’s National Health Commission continued to announce dozens more infections on Aug. 4, but locals in both regions feared that the true scale of the outbreak was worse than officially reported.
In Dalian, authorities sealed off 24 villages and neighborhoods, as well as 80 residential compounds to prevent the virus from spreading, said Tang Yi, director of the Dalian Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, at a press conference.
“Nobody can enter or leave,” Tang added.
Mr. Chen lives at the Jindi Yijing residential compound in Dalian Bay. He said the authorities locked down the residence at 5 a.m. on July 23, after someone at a neighboring apartment complex was diagnosed with COVID-19.
On the morning of July 23, Chen and his neighbors found out that they couldn’t leave the compound when they woke up. “The compound was locked down suddenly, and we had no preparation time, no food storage,” Chen complained.
Since then, Chen and his fellow neighbors could not go out for shopping, and the e-commerce platform that authorities provided for people to purchase food did not have enough supplies.
“No fruit, meat, or seafood. The vegetables were very limited. Soon after, there was no more food to buy on that platform for a whole week,” Chen said. “We kept on calling the mayor’s hotline, community committee, and the complex’s management company, but nobody answered our requests.”
He also mentioned there was a child living in his compound who became sick one night, but authorities did not allow the parents and child to visit a hospital, nor go to the pharmacy to buy medicine. “In the end, a neighbor found some medicine at home and gave it to the child’s parents,” Chen said.
The next day, the parents collected five signatures appealing for permission to bring the child to the hospital, including officials from the community committee, management company, and police bureau. Eventually, authorities relented.
On Aug. 2, Chen and several neighbors created a shopping platform by themselves and hired people who live in areas outside the mandatory lockdown to purchase and deliver food for them.
Lin Meng, a resident of the Lishui Haoting residential compound in Dalian Bay, was also required to stay at home. He said that the e-commerce platform set up by authorities only supplies 1,000 vegetables for tens of thousands of residents.
Lin complained that the vegetables were very expensive and in limited supply. For the elderly, “they are in a bad situation. They don’t know how to use an e-commerce platform,” Lin added.
In the past few days, Dalian Bay residents also sent videos to The Epoch Times of scuffles that erupted due to people’s complaints about lack of food.
One video shared on Aug. 3 showed that residents in an apartment complex asked the management company to allow sellers into the area to deliver food. They were refused.
The argument turned into a fight. In the end, more than ten police officers, some armed with weapons, and a tactical team arrived at the scene and detained several residents.
