Have you found the fact is there almost always are 5000 confirmed cases of the illness. I came to work in china as a journalist in 2007 and got married to lou from beijing we have one son and live in a housing complex in the north of the city i travel around china a lot making reports but now ive been grounded and the niagara i need to basis to like a. Cordons have been erected around cities but also around entire provinces as well as city districts and even every housing complex. Outside my neighborhood block uniformed men check everyones comings and goings. The neighborhood committees are important cogs in the communist Party Security apparatus there to monitor residents political and social behavior. Now theyre functioning as health police. Temperature checks enforced quarantines upon leaving the city mandatory face masks beijings residents have bit by bit disappeared from the face of the city their movements curtailed by the regime and their own fear. The only report that i can make is one about stand still a quarantine diary. The days seem an eventful but they raise many questions about chinas future. Theres one good thing about the situation. Now that our family is together 247 we are more united than ever. Ive even persuaded my son to help me not to fetch water. The tap water is undrinkable so water containers are delivered on most days. But since our district was cordoned off we have to collect them ourselves my son is lucky because the barricade isnt very high. Since the outbreak of the virus lou and i have been wearing his and hers Fashion Accessories facemasks. Mine black hers white. Blue is unhappy she can no longer wear lipstick. But since the quarantine started the wearing of face masks has been strongly advised basically if you leave the apartment without one youll be stopped. The remaining entry point to our district has become a checkpoint you need a special pass to get in and out and its checked every time. Permission can be refused at any time. You might think its 5 pm on a sunday afternoon but in fact its friday afternoon. Normally people would be going shopping now. And beijing would look like this. Its nice to have a bit more space but were feeling a bit lonely. And what makes things worse is getting our temperature measured every 300 metres. But is it really such a good idea to be pressing these devices on to dozens of different peoples wrists. The mall is almost empty too. Usually we have to wait half an hour to get a coffee but people dont feel like going out. At least there are a few young guys playing basketball bringing a bit of life to the place. But im surprised they arent wearing masks. At the moment theyre still disinfectant to clean our hands but for how much longer. At the supermarket entrance another checkpoint. At least theres a bit more life here since being enquired teen cooking has become our main activity. This side of the supermarket shelves is almost comforting but only almost. Weve all seen the images of empty shelves in the city of and on social media. The situation at the epicenter of the outbreak where thousands are sick is ever present its feeding a sense of collective anxiety. Thats even though our situation is nothing like the one in han in beijing there are only a 100 official coronavirus cases the capitol is hermetically sealed off nonetheless. In the subway im meeting ms lee my interpreter. Before i even say hello i already know her skin temperature 32 point one degree celsius. All subway entrances are now fitted with infrared cameras. If your temperature tops 37. 3 degrees youre isolated behind a barricade and sent to the hospital. And of course theres also someone checking for face masks in the subway. Not that theres much to check. Normally now the trains look like this. The real problem is the shortage of masks. Together with ms lee im going to investigate the problem. You know were closed try their. Hair it says masks selfdoubt. And he has to have masks only electric ones can look. He only has a mask for 40 euros which of course he offers us straight off when it definitely got against the virus. Which wires do you mean the coronavirus of course you. Wonder what you have to change all the standard masks every 2 days to be on the safe side every 2 days yes to ensure that youre protected against a virus that is unnecessary with this electrical mask you can be used for 2 months no problem 2 months. What about the standard masks like yours could i have one like that. Song no i dont have any more youre too late 100000 are lined up on their sold out for today. Should i try again tomorrow. You know new years thats normally how it works you get here early because we only get a limited number of masks everyone in the district knows that so they arrive early are there to wait in line. Everything linked to this outbreak is controlled by the government. And trashing the amount of masks that were allowed to sell. You could you stop filming please would be better if you did not produce ok you did it in oklahoma. I go to tea on a minute square to see what it looks like in the heart of the city. The pavements are cordoned off. You can only get around the square by bike. On its north side is the forbidden city. Everywhere there are Police Officers guarding the entrance to this huge palace complex turned museum. It has never been more forbidding that now. Just a few meters away is wrong not high in the seat of the state council and the communist party headquarters. The countrys top leadership both lives and works behind this gate cordoned off because of fear of the virus its impossible to stop here. Im familiar now with the situation in my district and in the city center but what about the working class districts on the outskirts of beijing are they under the same quarantine. The companies are housing their workers in small single. Dormitories. In a model proletariat no one would dare contradict the party. Mr chen is a chauffeur ive hired him for a day to show me his district. Anyone who wants to enter has to get registered ill go out and arrange it with them going to. Happen. No one is allowed into the corridor without a pass we try it using mr chens. This is my pass for the quarter. We arent the only ones waiting everyone is being checked by the neighborhood committees the communist partys Security Apparatus is on the present in the fight against the virus. The committees are the parties local arm its their job to enforce the quarantines in the affected districts they issue the permits and inform authorities about anyone who is running a temperature or not wearing a mask. The neighborhood committees have grown since the beginning of the crisis these people call themselves volunteers united in the battle against the virus but whether theyve got an armband or not they are in fact paid by the city authorities to ensure people stick by the rules the checks are strict and you can only leave the area for restricted hours to our surprise they allow us to proceed. When the gates are closed you cant get in no matter what recently i had to sleep in the car. The streets and alleyways are empty here too. Its not easy to find someone to interview. This man is the only one i have and hes venturing outside for the 1st time in 2 days from other. Potatoes noodles garlic tofu and vegetable. Matter when i went shopping and needed to buy more than usual because there are 3 of us and im the only one or leaves the apartment every 2 or 3 days. So far. Back home theres a surprise waiting for me. This is the 1st time ive seen an ambulance outside the entrance of our apartment block and yet no suspected cases have been reported. For our reassurance we can see practically in real time whether or not there are sick people in our building there are several apps that localized people who have the virus. Not. One this blue dog has me more often this is up building. Around at the yellow buildings the ones with sick people are recorded as living. Off of my life. They dont have the color the more recent the case. You found now. Every red dot is a coronavirus case no one slips through the net in a society where everyone is tracked by shopping going about their daily business or via facial recognition i click here on the ill person to see where theyve been. On the phone to free to and if mr there are 2 or 3 kilometers away why were here and were definitely not going to walk 3 kilometers to buy an apple says fine. They could be no monk in 2000 would take on these new technologies make everyday life a lot easier. But they also create fear. The apps show most of the sick as being in the center of beijing the main shopping drag wangfujing is dead usually beijings equivalent of the shows that hes a is thronging with people out shopping or window shopping. But today there are Public Health videos rather than ads playing on the electronic billboards. The food market in the middle of the street where you used to be able to buy insect larvae and scorpions is closed theres a sign saying its going to be renovated but it doesnt say when. Things are agonizingly long days for store and Restaurant Owners mr john is in charge of the only open cafe around here. Today im her only customer. When the epidemic 1st broke out we had to find a way of coping we assumed the whole thing would probably go on for the 1st half of the year i have a lot of friends in the restaurant trade and were all in the same situation were under a lot of pressure if our estimates are correct we dont know when business is going to pick up again and were keeping a very close eye on developments. And when things improve well hear about it on the news so we keep calculating when we might have more guests again based on the latest infection figures. Septuagint. This city is sleeping but were going stir crazy at home. So we decide to go out. Itll do us good. Because we cant be visited by anyone from outside and everything is closed we pay a visit to our neighbor gary. Up to now we had only met on the parking lot. Of homes on. The 2nd hand car dealer lives here with his wife and cat for more than a month now he has been sitting at home and twiddling his thumbs like all of us since the start of the quarantine he hasnt missed any of the news broadcasts on c. C. T. V. Chinese state television. I dont home on sunday a National Figure in 2003 at the time of the sars epidemic i know when i was in my 3rd year at university i think people were less worried back than the whole is what people are far more worried than there were about sars. People are saying that the mood is different because of what we chat or. So years of reading that because were communicating with one another more due to social media at the time sars these platforms devil exist then you go to church it. Means that in 2003 the authorities in beijing committed grave mistakes they hushed things up and that created big problems but i believe they have made progress and theyve got the situation pretty much under control now. Maybe they tried to cover things up but for. I dont know truly there are for example. Based on the information he hears from the government gary prefers to stay at home. Every evening state t. V. Shows images of the crisis pictures of hospitals patients and above all the military and medics working together in perfect coordination and on the ground shots from cities where the state apparatus is naturally shown as intervening swiftly and efficiently even cleaning the street with mops. The premier said its a good example the message everything is under control just. As every day goes by more people disappear from beijing streets normally theres an almost constant flow of cars and consumers along this road today nothing just silence. This banner reads we are all united and thanks to this trust in a scientific strategy of state leadership this epidemic will be vanquished. The regime is obsessed by the concern that fear about the virus could spark social unrest or criticism of the leaders. The party seems more worried about that than about the coronavirus itself. People spreading information on social media can expect sanctions. Log or phone being was arrested at home by the police. User whos there the police the police yes open up the whole why are there so many of you stop taking photos why are you here were here because of you where are you taking me what do you want from me you come and open the door 1st i want to know where youre taking me. You know if you are finally the police broke down on being hasnt been seen since the blogger had been filming since the start of the crisis and mohan and posting his videos on social media. Eventually into hospitals showed overflowing waiting rooms dying patients and doctors and nurses at breaking point. Unsanitized images. For. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese People had been following him online and watching how he openly denounced government inefficiency how would you do your get your punishment and pay for your deeds all anti communist forces must unite you do your cheese even if you arrest me i am not afraid to go out for you although up an unbearable affront to the regime but this type of video managed to spread through social media before the government was able to intervene so too did videos filmed by chen shushi in one hans hospital. He showed sick people not being treated. Desperate people who are not being attended to despite having had a fever for days. Im. Not. Hello this is Jennifer Short its 11 am monday january 30th. To this was his last video before he was quarantined. Im frightened. I have the virus before my eyes and state security breathing down my neck. But im not going to let that get be done ill carry on reporting in this city as long as i live and ill show what i see and hear. It would go to health as the communist regime think that im afraid well. Over the last few days ive noticed a few posts on we chat and the chinese equivalent of facebook and twitter but also challenging the official line they were written by a blogger couple in beijing. Accompanied by an interpreter i visit them in their small city center apartment. Just that we havent been outside for days and were just killing time. Since the start of the crisis there has been a rise in the number of citizen journalists in china trying to disseminate information to supplement the official version of events a tentative breath of freedom with limited means the 2 bloggers wanted to spark a mini revolution after dr lee when leon died the doctor from holland was the 1st to try to warn the public about the new disease. He was arrested but died after contracting the illness and became a symbol for this absurd system that silences people to maintain the regimes stability. When dr li died people were sad and angry and i wanted to honor him by getting as many people as possible to use a drawing of his face as their profile picture in social media or to send posts with messages like its no crime to express your opinion or have a safe journey to paradise a kind of online demonstration. 30 minutes after i had posted my call to action thousands of users had changed their profile picture and shared my post on the Internet Police got wind of it and sent me a warning. The content you posted will be. Believe it as it could lead to a rest if you refuse to cooperate your account will be permanently deleted from. In china everything functions via social media Payment Systems communication smart taking for public transport if you dont have an account youre down and out what all of you will at 1st question and certainly in life we reported very actively on the situation the. State television sent 300 reporters to hahn with the aim of steering Public Opinion and crushing at the reports the regime now rules with the hard hand. The media has also been placed in quarantine chinas citizens are not just effectively incarcerated at home they only have access to information permitted by the regime the 2 bloggers are suffering the consequences. Just so here we are no internet our apps are no longer online to. The Software Tools that they use to dodge the censors and gain access to banned websites such as twitter have also been blocked. The. Week 2 of our corn team. The barricades at the entrances of our housing complex have now been reinforced with 2 metre high green wire fencing though its not as if anyone could have gotten through the cordon as it was. Every day is like the next a never ending stream of suppliers provides us with the essentials. But collecting the water containers is getting more and more difficult. We feel a little more locked in with every day that passes for. Lulu brings her cousin to find out how her daughter is doing. The 7 year old hasnt left the family apartment for several weeks now. d than when i got her shes just getting dressed on her school is closed of course Remote Learning is the order of the day things are young how do i work with classes tell you and. I sit down at the table and switch on the television i learn my lessons there and when im finished the teacher gives me my homework. Now homeland he didnt speak to one another virus guy act like we are now. Yes no it was like that at 1st. The teacher could see us. But now its all on television. And the teacher cant see us any more. Than you that albums lose cousin shows us what daily life is like for her daughter. Is an only child her daily routine under quarantine is carefully planned she gets up at 8 am then its time for breakfast. And the rest of the morning is devoted to learning and the day starts with an exercise class just like at school. And you know if you take your way he met it. 2 days ago we started having to pass through this large military tent the Monitoring System has become more tightly organized. The color of the past is now changed to reflect the number of sick people in the vicinity. Ours are pistachio green no idea what that means. We film secretly using our mobile phones. Cameras are not welcome in the monitoring zones. Outside its worse than ever. The streets are almost empty. The only people we meet are either wearing a red armband or are there to take our temperature. So empty. That. The basketball players have disappeared to. The court is now closed until further notice. My boss. On our way back through the tent we get stopped again. Even if. Its little. Long if you had just passed from one site on the with the length and when you leave beijing you will they know you know. Youre going to get new passes well make your 2 new ones. These are too old. But we cant climb the getting new ones because theyre better. Theyre valid longer. Ok. We only have 2 passes for 3 family members and now theyre white is that a good or a bad time i have no idea but we dont complain others have only got one pass and are only allowed to leave their homes every 2 or 3 days. Week 4 of the quarantine the barricades now too high to pass over any water containers. They were mutating into a nameless mass. Their bodies mirror tools the history of the slave trade is africas history. Describes how the greed for power and profit plummeted an entire continent into violence this time europes expansion for all the gold in the world in our series of slavery around. 50. To. Literature invites us to see people in particular. I like to see myself as the kids find the strength grown up. Is to share work and for. You to be books on you to. I am. This is d. W. News live from berlin france becomes the 3rd country in europe to go into lockdown over a coronavirus president. Orders french citizens to stay inside me today those who dont have any will face pay the fines in front of the border to its neighbors are also being closed. Also coming up the chancellor im going to back up toughens germanys tactics to slow the spread of the virus machall an ounce is that all nonessential stores will stay closed and advises german