The Chinese government is welding doors shut to enforce its coronavirus quarantine, after footage has emerged of suspected coronavirus sufferers being dragged from their homes.

In startling footage taken in the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan, authorities can be seen welding various doors shut in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus which, at the time of writing, has claimed at least 800 lives and infected a further 37,200 people in China alone, as per the Guardian.

The footage above was posted to Twitter by AS-Source News and was captioned: "Chinese authorities are now WELDING DOORS SHUT to whole apartment buildings, as well as residents inside - to impose #Coronavirus quarantine. #Wuhan."

It sparked outrage on the social media website. Some users questioned how the people inside the buildings could receive the food they need whereas others pointed out the obvious fire hazard that the welding presents.

One Twitter user wrote: "They will die of starvation most likely because it doesn't look like the Chinese government plans to come back for them anytime soon."

A second questioned: "This is horrific! What is their fate? Are they being locked up to be forgotten about, no means of escape only to die a slow painful death? It's getting out of hand now!"

Whereas a third wrote that the government's decision to weld the doors shut was reminiscent of a zombie movie.

Efforts are currently underway to find a vaccine for the virus, with China's richest man donating over $14 million USD to the cause.

In an interview with China News, Li Lanjuan, an expert from China's National Health Commission, said that scientists were "very close" to developing a vaccine for the virus, however, it "will take time".

According to Lanjuan, all being well, a sample vaccine should exist within a month. It would then require two weeks to be approved and a further six weeks to be deemed suitable for use.