Shanghai residents clash with police as China metropolis enters third week of COVID-19 lockdown

Residents in the China city of Shanghai are now clashing with police over government-imposed COVID-19 lockdowns that have essentially kept residents inside of their dwellings for three straight weeks.

As Chinese officials try to battles a fresh wave of COVID cases, anybody in the major Chinese metropolis who tests positive for the virus is being placed in quarantine facilities, which in some cases are converted residential buildings.

Though as positive test cases climb to more than 20,000 a day, authorities are running out of quarantine options.

Despite climbing case numbers, the rate of serious COVID infections in Shanghai remains low, which has resulted in residents questioning the severity of the lockdown measures being imposed by the government.

News reports indicate some residents are running low on key supplies like food and water, which are periodically dropped off by government officials.

The lockdown restrictions have also overwhelmed delivery services and grocery websites that are unable to keep up with the demand for service from the shut-in community.

Residents are also upset about being forced out of their homes so that they may be turned into the makeshift quarantine facilities.

Protests have begun to unfold – a significant move in a country in which dissenters against the country's ruling Communist Party are often jailed. Police with riot shields have been forcing protestors of the streets. 

China is one of the few remaining countries committed to a COVID-zero policy. Though it is widely agreed that the COVID figures China has reported throughout the pandemic do not match reality, their system has been tested in new ways recently as the fast-spreading Omicron variant has taken hold of the nation. 

Video from at least one news gathering agency Thursday showed some Shanghai residents outside of their apartments.