China Covid protests: Police officers confront a man as they block Wulumuqi street in Shanghai
New Delhi:
Hundreds gathered in China’s capital Beijing and other cities to protest against the stringent Covid curbs, which include snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines, and mass testing campaigns.
Here are 5 points on this big story:
-
China has stuck with it’s zero-Covid policy even as much of the world has lifted most restrictions. The lockdowns and lengthy quarantines in China have resulted in public frustration.
-
China reported 39,506 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, a record high but small compared to caseloads in the West at the height of the pandemic.
-
Several high-profile cases in which emergency services have been allegedly slowed down by Covid lockdowns, leading to deaths, have catalysed public opposition.
-
A deadly fire on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, has become a fresh catalyst for public anger, with many blaming lengthy Covid lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts. Ten people were killed in the fire.
-
Another factor that has added fuel to the protests is the country’s struggling economy. China’s economy suffered a broad slowdown in October as factory output grew more slowly than expected and retail sales fell for the first time in five months.