“This is my 68-year-old grandmother who’s been having low fever and dry coughing since the 18th,” wrote another verified user who included a personal phone number and a photo of a medical report in her public post. “The doctor recommends that we report to community authorities to receive hospital treatment, but we’ve reported and there hasn’t been any response.”

Others are also posting about their daily lives in a city under lockdown. One verified user posted photos of empty shelves in a supermarket. Another described her harrowing plan to walk nearly 14 hours to visit her ailing parents in Wuhan. Public transport in the city has been shut down for more than a week, leaving residents without private cars stranded. 

Some pleas for help have apparently been answered. One verified user, who said his father had trouble breathing, reported that he’s since been hospitalized for treatment.  

Online censorship in China has seen some relaxation amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed at least 213 people and infected about 10,000. People have been taking to Weibo and WeChat to voice their anger about what some see as government failure to contain the disease. But some news stories deemed sensitive have still been taken down. 

Weibo is encouraging more individuals to apply for verification to “fight the outbreak by delivering true information.” It recently published a list of top debunked rumors in January, including a false claim that rinsing your mouth with salt water can kill the new coronavirus.