For American expat Sarah Boss, the scariest part of lockdown life in Shanghai wasn't any anxiety about running out of food or hot water — which did happen. It was the constant fear that she would be shipped off to a COVID-19 quarantine camp due to a positive test, leaving behind her beloved cats, who likely wouldn't survive without her.

"To China, you're a number," said Boss, who endured a two-month lockdown that was initially supposed to last for five days. "I feel for the citizens. They always said, 'You can at least go, we can't.' It's inhumane. It's all political. I can say that here in the U.S. I couldn't say that when I was living in China."