2020年1月的中国，一个剧组恢复拍摄一部停拍了十年的电影。在补拍即将完成之际，有关疫情的谣言开始流传。
一位来自武汉的发型师被送回家，而剧组人员则在手机上持续关注着新闻。一些工作人员和演员设法在酒店被封之前离开。所有留在片场的人都被关在酒店房间里。所有的通信交流都局限在手机屏幕上，政府宣布在全国范围内实施封锁。工作人员继续通过视频电话与亲人交流，被隔离的主演姜城（秦昊 饰）正在努力支持他最近刚生完孩子的妻子。

A metropolis with a population of about 11 million, Wuhan sits at the crossroads of China. It was here that in the last days of 2019, the first reports of a mysterious new form of pneumonia emerged. Before long, an abrupt and unprecedented lockdown was declared—the first of many such responses to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.

This book tells the dramatic story of the Wuhan lockdown in the voices of the city’s own people. Using a vast archive of more than 6,000 diaries, the sociologist Guobin Yang vividly depicts how the city coped during the crisis. He analyzes how the state managed—or mismanaged—the lockdown and explores how Wuhan’s residents responded by taking on increasingly active roles. Yang demonstrates that citizen engagement—whether public action or the civic inaction of staying at home—was essential in the effort to fight the pandemic. The book features compelling stories of citizens and civic groups in their struggle against COVID-19: physicians, patients, volunteers, government officials, feminist organizers, social media commentators, and even aunties loudly swearing at party officials. These snapshots from the lockdown capture China at a critical moment, revealing the intricacies of politics, citizenship, morality, community, and digital technology. Presenting the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people, The Wuhan Lockdown is an unparalleled account of the first moments of the crisis that would define the age.